It is almost a year since the pandemic struck the planet. It was December 31, 2019 when the first case of the novel coronavirus (later named covid-19) was reported from Wuhan, China. On March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization (who) declared it a pandemic. There are many “firsts” associated with covid-19 that show why and how is it so devastating.
All four pandemics in history have been caused by viruses, but this is the first to be caused by a coronavirus. This is also the fastest a disease became a pandemic—just 71 days—after outbreak. In barely one year, it has infected over 67 million people and killed over 1.5 million in 200 countries and territories. India has had 9.6 million cases, making it the second worst-impacted country after the US. As of December 7, over 0.14 million people have died of covid-19 in India. It continues to rage and there are fresh bouts of outbreak in as many 50 countries.
This story is from the December 16, 2020 edition of Down To Earth.
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This story is from the December 16, 2020 edition of Down To Earth.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
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