COVID-19
Introduction Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a potentially severe acute respiratory infection caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The virus was identified as the cause of an outbreak of pneumonia of unknown cause in Wuhan City, China. A preliminary study suggests that there are two major types (or strains) of the SARS-CoV-2 virus in China, designated L and S. On 11 March 2020, the WHO (World Health Organization) formally declared the COVID-19 outbreak a pandemic . As of 3 Oct 2023, more than 676 million cases of COVID-19 and approximately 6.88 million deaths have been reported globally. You can find updated Malaysia statistics at KKMNOW . SARS-CoV-2 has consistently mutated over the course of the pandemic , resulting in variants that are different from the original SARS-CoV-2 virus. Alpha and Beta variants are ~50-60% more infectious than the original wide-type strain. Delta variant is ~60% more infectious and transmissible than the alpha st...