In the Early Stages of Coronavirus Disease-2019: What It is, What Precautions to Take, and Why Social Distancing is Necessary

Abstract

In December 2019, a previously unknown pathogen emerged in the city of Wuhan in central China. A novel pneumonia was caused, and on December 31, 2019, the outbreak of “pneumonia of an unknown cause” was reported to the World Health Organization (WHO).1The pathogen was identified as belonging to the family Coronaviridae, specifically the genera Beta-Coronavirus (β-CoVs), which are enveloped, positive-sense, single-stranded ribonucleic acid (RNA) viruses of zoonotic origin.