2019 – The first known case of COVID-19 is traced to a 55-year-old man who had visited a market in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China.
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), is the contagious respiratory and vascular disease caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), first identified in Wuhan, China, that has caused the ongoing pandemic. Common symptoms of COVID-19 include fever, cough, fatigue, breathing difficulties, and loss of smell and taste. Symptoms begin one to fourteen days after exposure to the virus. While most people have mild symptoms, some people develop acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), precipitated by cytokine storms, multi-organ failure, septic shock, and blood clots. Longer-term damage to organs (in particular, the lungs and heart) has been observed. There is concern about a significant number of patients who have recovered from the acute phase of the disease but continue to experience a range of effects—known as long COVID—for months afterwards. These effects include severe fatigue, memory loss and other cognitive issues, low grade fever, muscle weakness, and breathlessness. There are currently no proven vaccines or specific treatments for COVID-19, though several are in development. Management involves the treatment of symptoms, supportive care, isolation, and experimental measures.
-Wikipedia