THE EMERGENCE OF COVID-19 AND ITS SPREAD ALONG WITH SYMPTOMS

The recent emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic caused by the novel severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) has put extreme pressure on all sectors of life
influencing society, medicine, and the economy around the globe. SARS-CoV-2 is the third zoonotic coronavirus (CoV) identified to cause pronounced disease in the human population, following SARS-CoV of 2003 and MERS-CoV of 2012. Its rate of transmission exceeds than that of SARS-CoV, and its fatality rate varies from 1.2-15.2%. CoV is a large enveloped virus with a linear positive-strand RNA genome. Owing to the fast mutation rate and recombination, CoVs are among the fastest evolving viruses, which might have also helped SARS-CoV-2 to attain novel infectious properties and adaptation to the human host. The genomic and evolutionary studies established so far have suggested that bats and pangolins serve as the natural reservoirs for SARS-CoV-2, eventually spilling over to humans. The transmission of this virus occurs by the inhalation of droplets from the respiratory tract of an infected person and thus strict quarantine measures are needed to prevent its spread