About COVID-19 | Symptoms | Long COVID | High-Risk People | Prevention | Testing | Treatment
What is COVID-19?
COVID-19 is a disease caused by an infection from a virus called SARS-CoV-2, which belongs to the coronavirus family. You can get COVID-19 through close proximity, sharing poorly ventilated areas with someone who has the virus through droplets in the air, and from touching surfaces contaminated by the virus.1
COVID-19 is a contagious infection that can affect anyone, of any age, at any time.2
COVID-19 is still a threat especially among people with certain risk factors who may be at highest risk for becoming seriously ill from COVID-19.3
The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared an end to the COVID-19 global public health emergency
However, COVID-19 still exists and remains a health risk.4,5 In fact, as of March 2nd 2025, there were more than 777 million confirmed cases worldwide based on the data that 240 countries report.6
Example
The virus that causes COVID-19 is unpredictable and can mutate into “variants.”7
“Variants” are changed versions of the original SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes COVID-198
More than 70 variants were identified during the pandemic classified under variants of interests (VOI), variants under monitoring (VUM), and variant of concern (VOC)8
The WHO has recognised some variants as “variants of interest” or “variants of concern,” depending on their potential risk to public health8
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