COVID-19: An Updated Insight of the Pandemic

Abstract

Novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) out-broke in the city of Wuhan in China and widely spread across the globe in a pandemic manner, causing societal and economic disruptions. Though the origin of the novel virus is still a debating topic, it is certain that SARS-CoV-2 acquired human to human transmission capacity. Regardless of aggressive containment and quarantine approaches, the number of confirmed cases continues to rise and being reported due to its highly infectious nature. As of the time, there is a little scope for the antiviral drugs or vaccines for the treatment of coronavirus infection; due to the vigorous mutation rate in the viral genome. However, existing anti-parasite drugs like ivermectin and chloroquine could effectively inhibit the virus has been reported. Few of the vaccines have come up with certain degree of efficacy and many are under the clinical trial phase. The research on novel coronavirus is still in the preliminary stage. In this chapter, we systematically summarize the origin, transmission route, molecular characterization, pathogenic mechanism, contagious nature, clinical symptoms, diagnosis, treatment, mutation and infection as well as prevention strategy of coronavirus disease based on the recently available literature. In addition to this, this chapter presents updated insights of the current state of knowledge pertaining to novel coronavirus and can be referred for potential future studies.