'''Coronavirus disease 2019''', or '''Covid-19''', is a strain of [[coronavirus]] which originated in Wuhan, China in December 2019. This strain has become pandemic, reaching every continent on the planet. Genetic mapping suggests that the Wuhan virus is related to severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) of 2002 and 2003 as well as to the Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) of 2012 to the present. Covid-19 is considered highly infectious with an estimated basic reproduction number (R<sub>0</sub>) of 2.2. The mortality rate is described as considerably less than 1 percent. By comparison, the mortality rate for seasonal influenza is 0.1 percent, SARS was 9 to 10 percent, and MERS was 36 percent.<ref name="Fauci">Anthony S. Fauci, M.D., H. Clifford Lane, M.D., and Robert R. Redfield, M.D., "[https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMe2002387 Covid-19 — Navigating the Uncharted]," ''New England Journal of Medicine'', March 26, 2020.</ref>
A great deal of research is being conducted on this virus. The first vaccine candidates will enter phase 1 trials by early spring. Therapy is currently consists only of limited to supportive care. Medication in current use include the antiviral drugs lopinavir–ritonavir, interferon-1β, the RNA polymerase inhibitor remdesivir, and chloroquine.<ref name="Fauci" />
== Vladimir Zelenko's COVID-19 treatment ==