17 important facts about coronavirus that everyone should know.

If you go to your local supermarket right now, it’s hard to find toilet paper.

Stories of stockpiling, strict travel bans and a surge in deaths outside of China has overwhelmed the coverage of coronavirus in recent days.

Of course, people are worried beacuse, as the World Health Organisation confirmed on Monday, “we are in unchartered territory”. But the circulation of fiction and fearmongering has become widespread in response to the illness.

And right now, we need facts not fear.

At a time when the truth has never mattered more, here are 17 critical facts about the coronavirus outbreak.

• At the time of publication, there has been over 91,000 cases worldwide of the COVID-19.
• As of March 3, there has been 3,125 deaths.
• Of the over 91,000 cases, 48,120 people have recovered and over 7,000 people are currently in a serious or critical condition. You can find the most up-to-date information here.
• The top three countries with the greatest number of COVID-19 infections are (in order): China, South Korea and Italy.
• If the Diamond Princess cruise ship was a country, it would rank fourth for the number of COVID-19 cases worldwide. In total, 705 people were infected and seven people died.
• The World Health Organisation has declared COVID-19 to be an “epidemic”. They have not labelled it a “pandemic” –  the worldwide spread of a new disease – yet. However, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the director-general of the WHO, said last week: “Does this virus have pandemic potential? Absolutely, it has.”
• The director general of the WHO also said on Monday, “we are in unchartered territory,” adding, “we have never before seen a respiratory pathogen that is capable of community transmission, but which can also be contained with the right measures.”

Listen to Mamamia’s daily news podcast, The Quicky. Today, they find out whether we should be stopping travel because of the coronavirus, cancelling the Olympics and be worried about the economy. Post continues below.

• Novel coronavirus was first detected in Wuhan City, Hubei Province, China. The first infections were linked to a live animal market.
• In Australia, as of March 3, there have been 33 cases of coronavirus in Australia. One person has died.
• Early estimates of the coronavirus death rate in Wuhan, China, have been around 2 per cent.
• The coronavirus is now present on every continent except Antarctica.
• 90 per cent of coronavirus cases remain in China, mostly in one province.
• The severity of coronavirus can depend on the patient’s age. In the first large analysis of more than 44,000 cases from China, nearly 15 per cent of those 80 and older who were infected with coronavirus died. In comparison, there were no deaths from those under age 10.
• Currently, there is no cure or specific treatment for the COVID-19.
• The number of cases in China continues to decline. On Sunday, China reported 206 new cases of COVID-19, the lowest since the 22nd of January.
• Between Sunday and Monday this week, there were almost nine times more cases reported outside China than inside China.
• The US suffered the worst weekly decline for stocks since the 2008 financial crisis, as fears over the impact of the coronavirus on the economy continue to grow.

Feature image: Getty.

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