COVID-19

• The COVID-19 pandemic, otherwise called

the coronavirus pandemic, is a
progressing pandemic of coronavirus
infection 2019 (COVID-19), brought about
by serious intense respiratory syndrome
coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2).

• Coronaviruses are a family of viruses that

can cause illnesses such as the common
cold, severe acute respiratory syndrome
(SARS) and Middle East respiratory
syndrome (MERS). In 2019, a new
coronavirus was identified as the cause of
a disease outbreak that originated in
China.
• The episode was first recognized in
Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The
World Health Organization pronounced
the flare-up a Public Health Emergency
of International Concern on 30 January,
and a pandemic on 11 March.
• The infection is essentially spread between
people during close contact, regularly by
means of little droplets delivered by
coughing, sniffling, and talking. The droplets
generally tumble to the ground or onto
surfaces as opposed to going through air
over long distances.

• It is generally infectious during the initial three

days after the beginning of symptoms, even
though spread is conceivable before side
effects show up, and from individuals who
don't show symptoms.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FYKypBqbTao&t=3s
 • The standard
incubation period
ranges from one
to 14 days, and is
most ordinarily five
days. Some
infected
individuals have
no indications,
known as
asymptomatic or
pre symptomatic
carriers;

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5DGwOJXSxq
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• Coronaviruses are enveloped positive sense
single-stranded RNA viruses sized 80–220 nm in
diameter. The envelop bears crown-like, 20-
nm in length spikes that resemble corona of
the sun under electron microscopy, hence
given its name coronavirus.

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coronavirus/
• The virus can cause disease both in animal
and human. It carries the largest genome
among the currently known RNA viruses.
Early cases of Covid-19 linked the virus was
transmitted from animals to human. SARS-
CoV was first detected in the Guangdong
province of China in November 2002 and
subsequently spread to 30 countries. It is
more severe than other corona virus
infection.
• Whole genome sequencing of SARS-CoV-2
reveals that it is a novel beta coronavirus
distinct from SARS-CoV.

• The nucleotide sequence of SARS-CoV-2

showed 79.0% and 51.8% identity with SARS-
CoV and MERS-CoV, respectively and it is
closely related to bat-origin SARS-like
coronavirus with 87.6%–89% identity.
• The virus was initially called 2019-novel
coronavirus (2019-nCoV) upon its emergence,
until the Coronaviridae Study Group of
International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses
named the virus severe acute respiratory
syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) based on
the phylogenetic analysis, on February 11, 2020.
On the same day, the WHO named the disease
caused by the novel Coronavirus Disease 2019
(COVID-19), in alignment with WHO best
practices for naming of new human infectious
disease.
Real time RT–PCR (Reverse Transcription Polymerase
Chain Reaction) is one of the most widely used
laboratory methods for detecting the COVID-19
virus.

Some viruses such as the coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2),

which causes COVID-19, only contain RNA, which
means that they rely on infiltrating healthy cells to
multiply and survive.

Once inside the cell, the virus uses its own genetic
code — RNA in the case of the COVID-19 virus — to
take control of and ‘reprogramme’ the cells, turning
them into virus-making factories.
Reverse Transcription
- In order for a virus like the COVID-19 virus to
be detected early in the body using real time
RT–PCR, scientists need to convert the RNA to
DNA.

They do this because only DNA can be copied — or

amplified — which is a key part of the real time RT–
PCR process for detecting viruses. Scientists amplify a
specific part of the transcribed viral DNA hundreds of
thousands of times for easy detection.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gubLAtn2o4s
1. A sample is collected from the parts of the body
where the COVID-19 virus gathers, such as a
person’s nose or throat.
2. The sample is treated with several chemical
solutions that remove substances such as proteins
and fats and that extract only the RNA present in
the sample. This extracted RNA is a mix of the
person’s own genetic material and, if present, the
virus’s RNA.
3. The RNA is reverse transcribed to DNA using a specific
enzyme.
4. Scientists then add additional short fragments of DNA
that are complementary to specific parts of the
transcribed viral DNA. If the virus is present in a sample,
these fragments attach themselves to target sections of
the viral DNA. Some of the added genetic fragments
are used for building DNA strands during amplification,
while the others are used for building the DNA and
adding marker labels to the strands, which are then
used to detect the virus.
5. The mixture is then placed in an RT–PCR machine.
6. The machine cycles through temperatures that heat and
cools the mixture to trigger specific chemical reactions
that create new, identical copies of the target sections
of viral DNA.
7. The cycle is repeated over and over to continue copying
the target sections of viral DNA. Each cycle doubles the
previous number: two copies become four, four copies
become eight, and so on. A standard real time RT–PCR
set-up usually goes through 35 cycles, which means that,
by the end of the process, around 35 billion new copies
of the sections of viral DNA are created from each strand
of the virus present in the sample.
As new copies of the viral DNA sections are built,
the marker labels attach to the DNA strands and
then release a fluorescent dye, which is measured
by the machine’s computer and presented in real
time on the screen.

The computer tracks the amount of fluorescence

in the sample after each cycle. When a certain
level of fluorescence is surpassed, this confirms
that the virus is present.

Scientists also monitor how many cycles it takes to

reach this level in order to estimate the severity of
the infection: the fewer the cycles, the more
severe the viral infection is.
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