The coronavirus outbreak data is constantly being updated. According to the latest data, as of 28 February 2020, there are 83,310 cases of the coronavirus globally and 2,858 deaths. There are confirmed cases in 50 other countries outside China.
On 26 February 2020, the first case of the novel coronavirus was confirmed in Georgia. According to the World Health Organisation’s data, as of 27 February 2020, cases of the coronavirus were confirmed in 47 countries apart from China. In total, there are 82,539 cases of the coronavirus confirmed worldwide. Of that amount, 78,630 were confirmed in China. The numbers of the coronavirus cases are also high in the following countries: South Korea – 1,766, Italy – 528, Iran – 245, Japan – 186 and Singapore – 96.
Although the coronavirus area of spread is expanding rapidly, the virus death toll is not alarming. The coronavirus fatality rate in China is 3.5% whilst outside China it is nearly 1.6%. At this moment, there are 2,812 deaths from the coronavirus. Of that amount, 2,747 were registered in China. There are only six other countries, in addition to China, where cases of deaths from the coronavirus were registered – Iran (26), Italy (14), South Korea (13), Japan (4), France (3) and the Philippines (1).
The coronavirus was also spread aboard the cruise ship Diamond Princess. Currently, there are 705 confirmed cases and four cases of death there.
We would like to remind you that coronavirus data is constantly being updated and the data in this article has already changed. According to the World Health Organisation’s newest data, as of 28 February 2020, there are 83,310 confirmed cases and 2,858 deaths of the coronavirus globally. There are confirmed cases in 50 other countries outside China.
According to the data of the Chinese Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, the highest mortality rate from the coronavirus is for people aged over 70 years. The mortality rate for patients aged 70-79 years is 8% whilst for people aged over 80 years is 14.8%. There have been no cases of death among children (from 0 to 9 years). The mortality rate for people aged under 40 years is below 0.2%. Of note is that both older people and people with chronic health conditions belong to the risk group. Of importance is that nearly 81% of the total coronavirus cases are mild, 14% are severe and 5% are critical.
Graph 1: Coronavirus (COVID-19) Confirmed Cases and Mortality Rate
Outside China
China
Globally
Deaths Cases
Source: World Health Organisation
The novel coronavirus is a new strain of the coronavirus family which was first identified in December 2019 in China’s Hubei province. The infection is spread from a close contact with an infected person via respiratory droplets. The virus incubation period is from two to 14 days. The main signs of the coronavirus infection are respiratory symptoms: fever, coughing, shortness of breath and difficulty to breath. In more severe cases, infection might cause pneumonia, kidney failure or death.
Currently there is no vaccine against the coronavirus which increases the risks of spreading the virus. However, the situation is not alarming because other countries, including Georgia, were relatively prepared for the coronavirus outbreak. Georgia implemented relevant measures to prevent an epidemic such as: stricter border control, appropriate medical readiness – it is possible to identify the novel coronavirus through laboratory testing at the Lugar Centre. In addition, there are spaces for quarantine, profiled (for infectious diseases) hospitals and an active information campaign is in progress.
The first case of the coronavirus in Georgia was confirmed on 26 February 2020. The infected person is a Georgian national who entered the country from Iran through Azerbaijan. Upon identification of the symptoms, the aforementioned person was immediately transferred from the customs check-point to a hospital for infectious diseases. In addition, all of those individuals with whom the infected person had contact (a person accompanying him and the custom officers) were also tested and their test results were negative. Currently, the infected person’s health condition is satisfactory – the patient has neither fever nor pneumonia and he continues treatment in the isolated unit of the hospital for infectious diseases.
