COVID-19: Quick Facts

Written and fact-checked by

The Information Architects of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Last updated

Nov. 10, 2026

News •

Former Air Force Academy superintendent named Purdue president • Nov. 5, 2026, 4:59 PM ET (The Colorado Springs Gazette)

Strand bookstore to pay nearly $1.5 million over Covid loan tied to Sen. Wyden's wife • Nov. 3, 2026, 5:38 PM ET (CNBC)

Study identifies new targets for antiviral drugs against coronaviruses • Nov. 2, 2026, 1:53 PM ET (News-Medical)

List Of Hollywood & Media Layoffs From Paramount To Warner Bros Discovery To CNN & More • Oct. 30, 2026, 3:00 AM ET (Deadline)

End of COVID-era SNAP emergency food assistance linked to increased child maltreatment rates • Oct. 29, 2026, 12:10 AM ET (Phys.org)

Facts

Also Known As	coronavirus disease 2019 • 2019 nCoV infection • 2019 novel coronavirus infection

Photos and Videos

COVID-19 vaccine

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Deserted Fifth Avenue in midtown Manhattan, New York City, with empty crosswalks and storefronts during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Disinfection workers wearing masks and gloves spray and wipe down railings at Incheon International Airport in South Korea during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Moderna COVID-19 vaccine

People wearing white surgical masks walk along a city street in Milan, Italy, during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Protesters in Beijing hold up blank white sheets of paper at night, symbolizing opposition to censorship during a march against China's zero COVID measures.

A woman wearing a face mask sits on a couch under a colorful blanket, looking at her cell phone with a hand on her forehead. A laptop rests nearby.

Labeled diagram of the SARS-CoV-2 virus shows its structure with spike glycoproteins on the outer surface, membrane and envelope proteins, and internal nucleoprotein and genomic RNA.

Gloved hands draw liquid from a vial into a syringe, overlaid on a digitally colored microscopic image of a virus with round particles in clusters.

The devastating history of pandemics

View to learn about renewable energy, its types, and also how the coronavirus pandemic has changed energy consumption and production patterns

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Topics

The Top COVID-19 Vaccine Myths Spreading Online Questions About COVID-19 Answered What was the impact of COVID-19?COVID-19 in 20 Questions long-haul COVID-19 syndrome Is It Safe to Reopen Schools During the COVID-19 Pandemic?Why Does COVID-19 Disproportionately Affect African Americans, Hispanics, and Latinos?How Did the COVID-19 Pandemic Start?What Is the Difference Between Influenza and COVID-19?What Is a Second Wave of a Pandemic, and Could It Happen for COVID-19?AIDS polio influenza smallpox bird flu hepatitis yellow fever measles chikungunya fever dengue

Key People

Anthony Fauci

Anthony Fauci

American doctor and scientist

A Yorkshire terrier dressed up as a veterinarian or doctor on a white background. (dogs)

A Visit with the Word Doctor: Medical Vocabulary Quiz

Bible-Based Fellowship Church partnered with the Pasco County Health Department, and Army National Guard to assist residents who are 65 and older to administer the Moderna Covid-19 vaccine on February 13, 2021 in Tampa, Florida... (coronavirus)

Do You Know the Facts About the COVID-19 Vax? Quiz by HealthGuard

44 Questions from Britannica’s Most Popular Health and Medicine Quizzes