Guidance

COVID-19: background information

Information on COVID-19 including epidemiology, virology and clinical features.

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Details

On 31 December 2019, the World Health Organization (WHO) was informed of a cluster of cases of pneumonia of unknown cause detected in Wuhan City, Hubei Province, China. A novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) was subsequently identified from patient samples.

This page contains information for professionals and the public on the epidemiology, virology and clinical features of COVID-19, the infection caused by SARS-CoV-2.

There may be further information specific to each country in the UK, as this guidance was written by the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) primarily for an English health professional audience. To see if country-specific information is available, please refer to Health Protection Scotland, Public Health Wales, or Public Health Agency in Northern Ireland.

Published 16 January 2020
Last updated 17 May 2022 + show all updates
  1. Updated epidemiology, virology, transmission and clinical features sections. Added section on vaccination.

  2. Update to guidance in line with latest data and available evidence.

  3. Updated global case numbers.

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  26. Updated global case numbers and clinical features (section 4) regarding long term health effects.

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  72. Updated global case numbers (section 1), virology (section 2), transmission (section 3) and clinical features (section 4).

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  159. Updated epidemiololgy and terminology for novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV).

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