Summary: At the end of December 2019, the circulation of a new coronavirus was confirmed. On February 11, 2020, Director General of the World Health Organization (WHO) Dr. Tedros A. Ghebreyesus discussed the current situation in the world caused by the emergence of the new coronavirus at a conference. Currently this virus is called the coronavirus of the acute respiratory syndrome - SARS-CoV-2 (severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2), and the associated disease is referred to as COVID-19. Coronaviruses are a large family of viruses; some cause disease in humans, but also circulate among animals. Research is currently underway to determine the intermediary of the transmission of the virus, which in December 2019 was isolated in China, per human. Coronaviruses are transmitted by the air when an infected person coughs or sneezes and is in close contact with another person. Reports that are posted on the WHO website regarding the spread of this virus in the world include the number of confirmed cases, the number of deaths, as well as the number of recoveries. The data change several times a day. Patients infected with the coronavirus in China reported the following symptoms: fever, cough, breathing difficulties, and some also had diarrhea and body aches. Thus, the symptoms of infection resemble those caused by the influenza virus. It should be remembered that an epidemic of influenza is currently underway in Poland.
Both WHO and all countries of the world issued mandatory recommendations regarding prevention, i.e. hygiene, reporting of cases, contacts with people from the area where the infection was registered. Information materials have been published, available not only in the form of leaflets, posters, but also on many websites. Confirmation of the presence of the pathogen is examined by molecular biology methods. For SARS-CoV-2 infections, we currently have neither a vaccine nor medicine. In many countries intensive research is underway to introduce a vaccine and a drug as soon as possible. The primary duty of a patient suspected of having coronavirus infection is to contact Sanitary Epidemiological Stations by phone or from an infectious hospital. Currently the effects of coronavirus infection resulting in death are incomparable to the number of deaths due to post-influenza complications that we record in the world during the epidemic season.