As of November 24, 2024 there were over 274 million confirmed cases of coronavirus (COVID-19) across the whole of Europe since the first confirmed cases in France in January 2020. France has been the worst affected country in Europe with 39,028,437 confirmed cases, followed by Germany with 38,437,756 cases. Italy and the UK have approximately 26.8 million and 25 million cases respectively. For further information about the coronavirus pandemic, please visit our dedicated Facts and Figures page.

Based on a comparison of coronavirus deaths in 210 countries relative to their population, Peru had the most losses to COVID-19 up until July 13, 2022. As of the same date, the virus had infected over 557.8 million people worldwide, and the number of deaths had totaled more than 6.3 million. Note, however, that COVID-19 test rates can vary per country. Additionally, big differences show up between countries when combining the number of deaths against confirmed COVID-19 cases. The source seemingly does not differentiate between "the Wuhan strain" (2019-nCOV) of COVID-19, "the Kent mutation" (B.1.1.7) that appeared in the UK in late 2020, the 2021 Delta variant (B.1.617.2) from India or the Omicron variant (B.1.1.529) from South Africa.

The difficulties of death figures

This table aims to provide a complete picture on the topic, but it very much relies on data that has become more difficult to compare. As the coronavirus pandemic developed across the world, countries already used different methods to count fatalities, and they sometimes changed them during the course of the pandemic. On April 16, for example, the Chinese city of Wuhan added a 50 percent increase in their death figures to account for community deaths. These deaths occurred outside of hospitals and went unaccounted for so far. The state of New York did something similar two days before, revising their figures with 3,700 new deaths as they started to include “assumed” coronavirus victims. The United Kingdom started counting deaths in care homes and private households on April 29, adjusting their number with about 5,000 new deaths (which were corrected lowered again by the same amount on August 18). This makes an already difficult comparison even more difficult. Belgium, for example, counts suspected coronavirus deaths in their figures, whereas other countries have not done that (yet). This means two things. First, it could have a big impact on both current as well as future figures. On April 16 already, UK health experts stated that if their numbers were corrected for community deaths like in Wuhan, the UK number would change from 205 to “above 300”. This is exactly what happened two weeks later. Second, it is difficult to pinpoint exactly which countries already have “revised” numbers (like Belgium, Wuhan or New York) and which ones do not. One work-around could be to look at (freely accessible) timelines that track the reported daily increase of deaths in certain countries. Several of these are available on our platform, such as for Belgium, Italy and Sweden. A sudden large increase might be an indicator that the domestic sources changed their methodology.

Where are these numbers coming from?

The numbers shown here were collected by Johns Hopkins University, a source that manually checks the data with domestic health authorities. For the majority of countries, this is from national authorities. In some cases, like China, the United States, Canada or Australia, city reports or other various state authorities were consulted. In this statistic, these separately reported numbers were put together. For more information or other freely accessible content, please visit our dedicated Facts and Figures page.

The New York Times is releasing a series of data files with cumulative counts of coronavirus cases in the United States, at the state and county level, over time. We are compiling this time series data from state and local governments and health departments in an attempt to provide a complete record of the ongoing outbreak.

Since late January, The Times has tracked cases of coronavirus in real time as they were identified after testing. Because of the widespread shortage of testing, however, the data is necessarily limited in the picture it presents of the outbreak.

We have used this data to power our maps and reporting tracking the outbreak, and it is now being made available to the public in response to requests from researchers, scientists and government officials who would like access to the data to better understand the outbreak.

The data begins with the first reported coronavirus case in Washington State on Jan. 21, 2020. We will publish regular updates to the data in this repository.

As of March 13, Austria had the highest rate of coronavirus (COVID-19) cases reported in the previous seven days in Europe at 224 cases per 100,000. Luxembourg and Slovenia have recorded 122 and 108 cases per 100,000 people respectively in the past week. Furthermore, San Marino had a rate of 97 cases in the last seven days.
Since the pandemic outbreak, France has been the worst affected country in Europe with over 38.3 million cases as of January 13. The overall incidence of cases in every European country can be found here.

For further information about the coronavirus pandemic, please visit our dedicated Facts and Figures page.

This dataset provides values for CORONAVIRUS DEATHS reported in several countries. The data includes current values, previous releases, historical highs and record lows, release frequency, reported unit and currency.

As of November 14, 2022, the United States had recorded almost 98 million cases of COVID-19. The country had also reported a total number of over one million deaths from the disease.

COVID-19 testing remains important The cumulative number of coronavirus cases worldwide reached almost 633 million towards the beginning of November 2022. Demand for test kits has at times exceeded production levels, but many countries continue to test citizens to more effectively control rises in cases. The U.S. has performed the most tests worldwide, followed by India and the United Kingdom.

The silent spread of the coronavirus Widespread testing will also help to detect people who might be asymptomatic – showing few or no symptoms of the illness. These carriers are unwittingly transmitting the virus to others, and the threat of silent transmission is one reason why mass lockdowns have been imposed around the world. However, as asymptomatic carriers produce no symptoms, they may have developed some natural immunity to the illness. Viruses are not as easily spread in communities with high rates of immunity, which helps to protect more vulnerable groups of people. When an infection rate is less than one, a community has achieved herd immunity.

As of May 2, 2023, the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) had spread to almost every country in the world, and more than 6.86 million people had died after contracting the respiratory virus. Over 1.16 million of these deaths occurred in the United States.

Waves of infections Almost every country and territory worldwide have been affected by the COVID-19 disease. At the end of 2021 the virus was once again circulating at very high rates, even in countries with relatively high vaccination rates such as the United States and Germany. As rates of new infections increased, some countries in Europe, like Germany and Austria, tightened restrictions once again, specifically targeting those who were not yet vaccinated. However, by spring 2022, rates of new infections had decreased in many countries and restrictions were once again lifted.

What are the symptoms of the virus? It can take up to 14 days for symptoms of the illness to start being noticed. The most commonly reported symptoms are a fever and a dry cough, leading to shortness of breath. The early symptoms are similar to other common viruses such as the common cold and flu. These illnesses spread more during cold months, but there is no conclusive evidence to suggest that temperature impacts the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Medical advice should be sought if you are experiencing any of these symptoms.

2019 Novel Coronavirus COVID-19 (2019-nCoV) Visual Dashboard and Map:
https://www.arcgis.com/apps/opsdashboard/index.html#/bda7594740fd40299423467b48e9ecf6

• Confirmed Cases by Country/Region/Sovereignty
• Confirmed Cases by Province/State/Dependency
• Deaths
• Recovered

Downloadable data:
https://github.com/CSSEGISandData/COVID-19

Additional Information about the Visual Dashboard:
https://systems.jhu.edu/research/public-health/ncov

This dataset provides values for CORONAVIRUS CASES reported in several countries. The data includes current values, previous releases, historical highs and record lows, release frequency, reported unit and currency.

As of January 13, 2023, Bulgaria had the highest rate of COVID-19 deaths among its population in Europe at 548.6 deaths per 100,000 population. Hungary had recorded 496.4 deaths from COVID-19 per 100,000. Furthermore, Russia had the highest number of confirmed COVID-19 deaths in Europe, at over 394 thousand.

Number of cases in Europe During the same period, across the whole of Europe, there have been over 270 million confirmed cases of COVID-19. France has been Europe's worst affected country with around 38.3 million cases, this translates to an incidence rate of approximately 58,945 cases per 100,000 population. Germany and Italy had approximately 37.6 million and 25.3 million cases respectively.

Current situation In March 2023, the rate of cases in Austria over the last seven days was 224 per 100,000 which was the highest in Europe. Luxembourg and Slovenia both followed with seven day rates of infections at 122 and 108 respectively.

As of May 2, 2023, the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) had been confirmed in almost every country in the world. The virus had infected over 687 million people worldwide, and the number of deaths had reached almost 6.87 million. The most severely affected countries include the U.S., India, and Brazil.

COVID-19: background information COVID-19 is a novel coronavirus that had not previously been identified in humans. The first case was detected in the Hubei province of China at the end of December 2019. The virus is highly transmissible and coughing and sneezing are the most common forms of transmission, which is similar to the outbreak of the SARS coronavirus that began in 2002 and was thought to have spread via cough and sneeze droplets expelled into the air by infected persons.

Naming the coronavirus disease Coronaviruses are a group of viruses that can be transmitted between animals and people, causing illnesses that may range from the common cold to more severe respiratory syndromes. In February 2020, the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses and the World Health Organization announced official names for both the virus and the disease it causes: SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19, respectively. The name of the disease is derived from the words corona, virus, and disease, while the number 19 represents the year that it emerged.

On March 10, 2023, the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center ceased its collecting and reporting of global COVID-19 data. For updated cases, deaths, and vaccine data please visit the following sources: World Health Organization (WHO)For more information, visit the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center.-- Esri COVID-19 Trend Report for 3-9-2023 --0 Countries have Emergent trend with more than 10 days of cases: (name : # of active cases) 41 Countries have Spreading trend with over 21 days in new cases curve tail: (name : # of active cases)Monaco : 13, Andorra : 25, Marshall Islands : 52, Kyrgyzstan : 79, Cuba : 82, Saint Lucia : 127, Cote d'Ivoire : 148, Albania : 155, Bosnia and Herzegovina : 172, Iceland : 196, Mali : 198, Suriname : 246, Botswana : 247, Barbados : 274, Dominican Republic : 304, Malta : 306, Venezuela : 334, Micronesia : 346, Uzbekistan : 356, Afghanistan : 371, Jamaica : 390, Latvia : 402, Mozambique : 406, Kosovo : 412, Azerbaijan : 427, Tunisia : 528, Armenia : 594, Kuwait : 716, Thailand : 746, Norway : 768, Croatia : 847, Honduras : 1002, Zimbabwe : 1067, Saudi Arabia : 1098, Bulgaria : 1148, Zambia : 1166, Panama : 1300, Uruguay : 1483, Kazakhstan : 1671, Paraguay : 2080, Ecuador : 53320 Countries may have Spreading trend with under 21 days in new cases curve tail: (name : # of active cases)61 Countries have Epidemic trend with over 21 days in new cases curve tail: (name : # of active cases)Liechtenstein : 48, San Marino : 111, Mauritius : 742, Estonia : 761, Trinidad and Tobago : 1296, Montenegro : 1486, Luxembourg : 1540, Qatar : 1541, Philippines : 1915, Ireland : 1946, Brunei : 2010, United Arab Emirates : 2013, Denmark : 2111, Sweden : 2149, Finland : 2154, Hungary : 2169, Lebanon : 2208, Bolivia : 2838, Colombia : 3250, Switzerland : 3321, Peru : 3328, Slovakia : 3556, Malaysia : 3608, Indonesia : 3793, Portugal : 4049, Cyprus : 4279, Argentina : 5050, Iran : 5135, Lithuania : 5323, Guatemala : 5516, Slovenia : 5689, South Africa : 6604, Georgia : 7938, Moldova : 8082, Israel : 8746, Bahrain : 8932, Netherlands : 9710, Romania : 12375, Costa Rica : 12625, Singapore : 13816, Serbia : 14093, Czechia : 14897, Spain : 17399, Ukraine : 19568, Canada : 24913, New Zealand : 25136, Belgium : 30599, Poland : 38894, Chile : 41055, Australia : 50192, Mexico : 65453, United Kingdom : 65697, France : 68318, Italy : 70391, Austria : 90483, Brazil : 134279, Korea - South : 209145, Russia : 214935, Germany : 257248, Japan : 361884, US : 6440500 Countries may have Epidemic trend with under 21 days in new cases curve tail: (name : # of active cases) 54 Countries have Controlled trend: (name : # of active cases)Palau : 3, Saint Kitts and Nevis : 4, Guinea-Bissau : 7, Cabo Verde : 8, Mongolia : 8, Benin : 9, Maldives : 10, Comoros : 10, Gambia : 12, Bhutan : 14, Cambodia : 14, Syria : 14, Seychelles : 15, Senegal : 16, Libya : 16, Laos : 17, Sri Lanka : 19, Congo (Brazzaville) : 19, Tonga : 21, Liberia : 24, Chad : 25, Fiji : 26, Nepal : 27, Togo : 30, Nicaragua : 32, Madagascar : 37, Sudan : 38, Papua New Guinea : 38, Belize : 59, Egypt : 60, Algeria : 64, Burma : 65, Ghana : 72, Haiti : 74, Eswatini : 75, Guyana : 79, Rwanda : 83, Uganda : 88, Kenya : 92, Burundi : 94, Angola : 98, Congo (Kinshasa) : 125, Morocco : 125, Bangladesh : 127, Tanzania : 128, Nigeria : 135, Malawi : 148, Ethiopia : 248, Vietnam : 269, Namibia : 422, Cameroon : 462, Pakistan : 660, India : 4290 41 Countries have End Stage trend: (name : # of active cases)Sao Tome and Principe : 1, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines : 2, Somalia : 2, Timor-Leste : 2, Kiribati : 8, Mauritania : 12, Oman : 14, Equatorial Guinea : 20, Guinea : 28, Burkina Faso : 32, North Macedonia : 351, Nauru : 479, Samoa : 554, China : 2897, Taiwan* : 249634 -- SPIKING OF NEW CASE COUNTS --20 countries are currently experiencing spikes in new confirmed cases:Armenia, Barbados, Belgium, Brunei, Chile, Costa Rica, Georgia, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Israel, Kuwait, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Mauritius, Portugal, Sweden, Ukraine, United Kingdom, Uzbekistan 20 countries experienced a spike in new confirmed cases 3 to 5 days ago: Argentina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, France, Korea - South, Lithuania, Mozambique, New Zealand, Panama, Poland, Qatar, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Switzerland, Trinidad and Tobago, United Arab Emirates 47 countries experienced a spike in new confirmed cases 5 to 14 days ago: Australia, Austria, Bahrain, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Congo (Kinshasa), Cyprus, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Finland, Germany, Guatemala, Honduras, Hungary, Iran, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Kazakhstan, Lebanon, Malta, Mexico, Micronesia, Moldova, Montenegro, Netherlands, Nigeria, Pakistan, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Russia, Saint Lucia, Saudi Arabia, Serbia, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, Suriname, Thailand, Tunisia, US, Uruguay, Zambia, Zimbabwe 194 countries experienced a spike in new confirmed cases over 14 days ago: Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Andorra, Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bahamas, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belarus, Belgium, Belize, Benin, Bhutan, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Botswana, Brazil, Brunei, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Burma, Burundi, Cabo Verde, Cambodia, Cameroon, Canada, Central African Republic, Chad, Chile, China, Colombia, Comoros, Congo (Brazzaville), Congo (Kinshasa), Costa Rica, Cote d'Ivoire, Croatia, Cuba, Cyprus, Czechia, Denmark, Djibouti, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Estonia, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Fiji, Finland, France, Gabon, Gambia, Georgia, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Grenada, Guatemala, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Hungary, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kiribati, Korea - South, Kosovo, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Latvia, Lebanon, Lesotho, Liberia, Libya, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Madagascar, Malawi, Malaysia, Maldives, Mali, Malta, Marshall Islands, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mexico, Micronesia, Moldova, Monaco, Mongolia, Montenegro, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Nauru, Nepal, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Niger, Nigeria, North Macedonia, Norway, Oman, Pakistan, Palau, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Romania, Russia, Rwanda, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Samoa, San Marino, Sao Tome and Principe, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Serbia, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, Solomon Islands, Somalia, South Africa, South Sudan, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Suriname, Sweden, Switzerland, Syria, Taiwan*, Tajikistan, Tanzania, Thailand, Timor-Leste, Togo, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Turkey, Tuvalu, US, Uganda, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, Uruguay, Uzbekistan, Vanuatu, Venezuela, Vietnam, West Bank and Gaza, Yemen, Zambia, Zimbabwe Strongest spike in past two days was in US at 64,861 new cases.Strongest spike in past five days was in US at 64,861 new cases.Strongest spike in outbreak was 424 days ago in US at 1,354,505 new cases. Global Total Confirmed COVID-19 Case Rate of 8620.91 per 100,000Global Active Confirmed COVID-19 Case Rate of 37.24 per 100,000Global COVID-19 Mortality Rate of 87.69 per 100,000 21 countries with over 200 per 100,000 active cases.5 countries with over 500 per 100,000 active cases.3 countries with over 1,000 per 100,000 active cases.1 country with over 2,000 per 100,000 active cases.Nauru is worst at 4,354.54 per 100,000.

Pre-existing conditions of people who died due to COVID-19, broken down by country, broad age group, and place of death occurrence, usual residents of England and Wales.

As of January 13, 2023, there had been over 270 million confirmed cases of COVID-19 across the whole of Europe since the first confirmed case in January, 2020. Cyprus has the highest incidence of COVID-19 cases among its population in Europe at 71,853 per 100,000 people, followed by a rate of 64,449 in Austria. Slovenia has recorded the third highest rate of cases in Europe at 62,834 cases per 100,000. With almost 38.3 million confirmed cases, France has been the worst affected country in Europe, which translates into a rate of 58,945 cases per 100,000 population.

Current infection rate in Europe San Marino had the highest rate of cases per 100,000 in the past week at 336, as of January 16, 2023. Cyprus and Slovenia had seven day rates of infections at 278 and 181 respectively.

Coronavirus deaths in Europe There have been 2,169,191 recorded COVID-19 deaths in Europe since the beginning of the pandemic. Russia has the highest number of deaths recorded in a European country at over 394 thousand. Bulgaria has the highest death rate from the virus in Europe with approximately 549 deaths per 100,000 as of January 13, followed by Hungary with 496 deaths per 100,000. For further information about the coronavirus pandemic, please visit our dedicated Facts and Figures page.

Brazil is the Latin American country affected the most by the COVID-19 pandemic. As of May 2025, the country had reported around 38 million cases. It was followed by Argentina, with approximately ten million confirmed cases of COVID-19. In total, the region had registered more than 83 million diagnosed patients, as well as a growing number of fatal COVID-19 cases. The research marathon Normally, the development of vaccines takes years of research and testing until options are available to the general public. However, with an alarming and threatening situation as that of the COVID-19 pandemic, scientists quickly got on board in a vaccine marathon to develop a safe and effective way to prevent and control the spread of the virus in record time. Over two years after the first cases were reported, the world had around 1,521 drugs and vaccines targeting the COVID-19 disease. As of June 2022, a total of 39 candidates were already launched and countries all over the world had started negotiations and acquisition of the vaccine, along with immunization campaigns. COVID vaccination rates in Latin America As immunization against the spread of the disease continues to progress, regional disparities in vaccination coverage persist. While Brazil, Argentina, and Mexico were among the Latin American nations with the most COVID-19 cases, those that administered the highest number of COVID-19 doses per 100 population are Cuba, Chile, and Peru. Leading the vaccination coverage in the region is the Caribbean nation, with more than 406 COVID-19 vaccines administered per every 100 inhabitants as of January 5, 2024.For further information about the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, please visit our dedicated Facts and Figures page.

As of March 10, 2023, the state with the highest rate of COVID-19 cases was Rhode Island followed by Alaska. Around 103.9 million cases have been reported across the United States, with the states of California, Texas, and Florida reporting the highest numbers of infections.

From an epidemic to a pandemic The World Health Organization declared the COVID-19 outbreak as a pandemic on March 11, 2020. The term pandemic refers to multiple outbreaks of an infectious illness threatening multiple parts of the world at the same time; when the transmission is this widespread, it can no longer be traced back to the country where it originated. The number of COVID-19 cases worldwide is roughly 683 million, and it has affected almost every country in the world.

The symptoms and those who are most at risk Most people who contract the virus will suffer only mild symptoms, such as a cough, a cold, or a high temperature. However, in more severe cases, the infection can cause breathing difficulties and even pneumonia. Those at higher risk include older persons and people with pre-existing medical conditions, including diabetes, heart disease, and lung disease. Those aged 85 years and older have accounted for around 27 percent of all COVID deaths in the United States, although this age group makes up just two percent of the total population

India marks one COVID-19 death every 5 minutes

https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/976/cpsprodpb/11C98/production/_118165827_gettyimages-1232465340.jpg" alt="">

Content

People across India scrambled for life-saving oxygen supplies on Friday and patients lay dying outside hospitals as the capital recorded the equivalent of one death from COVID-19 every five minutes.

For the second day running, the country’s overnight infection total was higher than ever recorded anywhere in the world since the pandemic began last year, at 332,730.

India’s second wave has hit with such ferocity that hospitals are running out of oxygen, beds, and anti-viral drugs. Many patients have been turned away because there was no space for them, doctors in Delhi said.

https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/XhVWo4SOloJoXaQLrxxUIQ--/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MA--/https://s.yimg.com/os/creatr-uploaded-images/2021-04/8aa568f0-a3e0-11eb-8ff6-6b9a188e374a" alt="">

Mass cremations have been taking place as the crematoriums have run out of space. Ambulance sirens sounded throughout the day in the deserted streets of the capital, one of India’s worst-hit cities, where a lockdown is in place to try and stem the transmission of the virus. source

Dataset

The dataset consists of the tweets made with the #IndiaWantsOxygen hashtag covering the tweets from the past week. The dataset totally consists of 25,440 tweets and will be updated on a daily basis.

The description of the features is given below | No |Columns | Descriptions | | -- | -- | -- | | 1 | user_name | The name of the user, as they’ve defined it. | | 2 | user_location | The user-defined location for this account’s profile. | | 3 | user_description | The user-defined UTF-8 string describing their account. | | 4 | user_created | Time and date, when the account was created. | | 5 | user_followers | The number of followers an account currently has. | | 6 | user_friends | The number of friends an account currently has. | | 7 | user_favourites | The number of favorites an account currently has | | 8 | user_verified | When true, indicates that the user has a verified account | | 9 | date | UTC time and date when the Tweet was created | | 10 | text | The actual UTF-8 text of the Tweet | | 11 | hashtags | All the other hashtags posted in the tweet along with #IndiaWantsOxygen | | 12 | source | Utility used to post the Tweet, Tweets from the Twitter website have a source value - web | | 13 | is_retweet | Indicates whether this Tweet has been Retweeted by the authenticating user. |

Acknowledgements

https://globalnews.ca/news/7785122/india-covid-19-hospitals-record/ Image courtesy: BBC and Reuters

Inspiration

The past few days have been really depressing after seeing these incidents. These tweets are the voice of the indians requesting help and people all over the globe asking their own countries to support India by providing oxygen tanks.

And I strongly believe that this is not just some data, but the pure emotions of people and their call for help. And I hope we as data scientists could contribute on this front by providing valuable information and insights.

As of March 10, 2023, the state with the highest number of COVID-19 cases was California. Almost 104 million cases have been reported across the United States, with the states of California, Texas, and Florida reporting the highest numbers.

From an epidemic to a pandemic The World Health Organization declared the COVID-19 outbreak a pandemic on March 11, 2020. The term pandemic refers to multiple outbreaks of an infectious illness threatening multiple parts of the world at the same time. When the transmission is this widespread, it can no longer be traced back to the country where it originated. The number of COVID-19 cases worldwide has now reached over 669 million.

The symptoms and those who are most at risk Most people who contract the virus will suffer only mild symptoms, such as a cough, a cold, or a high temperature. However, in more severe cases, the infection can cause breathing difficulties and even pneumonia. Those at higher risk include older persons and people with pre-existing medical conditions, including diabetes, heart disease, and lung disease. People aged 85 years and older have accounted for around 27 percent of all COVID-19 deaths in the United States, although this age group makes up just two percent of the U.S. population

Objective: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has radically changed the world in a few weeks. Italy has been one of the first and most affected countries with more than 30,000 deaths up to now. Public health measures as quarantine or national lockdown are necessary to limit the spread of infectious diseases, but it is unsurprising that depriving people of their liberty has negative psychological effects. This is especially the case for people with chronic diseases, including neurological conditions like multiple sclerosis (MS). People with MS (PwMS) have a higher burden of neuropsychiatric comorbidities and are known to undertake maladaptive coping strategies in stress conditions. The aim of the present study is to investigate the impact of COVID-19 pandemic lockdown on mental health of an Italian cohort of PwMS in comparison with healthy controls (HCs).Methods: A total of 60 PwMS and 50 HCs (chosen among patients' cohabitants) were asked to answer a Web-based survey. This survey inquired about the impact of COVID-19 on patient's quality of life, job, and daily routine. Mood, fatigue, and sleep quality were evaluated using the Beck Depression Inventory II (BDI-II), the Generalized Anxiety Disease 7 (GAD-7), the Fatigue Severity Scale (FSS), and the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI).Results: Overall, patients had higher scores of BDI, FSS, and PSQI, and these differences were statistically significant (p < 0.05). When we looked at the subscores of the BDI, we detected a statistically significant difference for the neurovegetative part—that concerns with sleep, appetite, sex, and quality of sleep (p < 0.05). One out of five patients reported new symptoms or worsening of known symptom, in particular, sensory disturbances, and fatigue. However, no symptoms were severe enough to require hospitalization. When we looked for correlations among variables, we found that there was a significant relationship between unemployment and BDI total score, GAD-7, and PSQI in MS group. The presence of new symptoms or the worsening of symptoms positively related to FSS and to PSQI.Discussion: We identified that the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic had a significant impact on the psychological status of patients with MS. Compared with the general population, PwMS presented a higher burden of depressive symptoms, a worse sleep quality and perceived an increase in fatigue level, one of the most disabling symptoms of MS. The COVID-19 epidemic poses a challenge to psychological resilience. More studies are warranted to better understand the long-term consequences of the pandemic on mental health of vulnerable people during the disease outbreaks.

After entering Italy, the coronavirus (COVID-19) spread fast. The strict lockdown implemented by the government during the Spring 2020 helped to slow down the outbreak. However, in the following months the country had to face four new harsh waves of contagion. As of January 1, 2025, 198,638 deaths caused by COVID-19 were reported by the authorities, of which approximately 48.7 thousand in the region of Lombardy, 20.1 thousand in the region of Emilia-Romagna, and roughly 17.6 thousand in Veneto, the regions mostly hit. The total number of cases reported in the country reached over 26.9 million. The north of the country was mostly hit, and the region with the highest number of cases was Lombardy, which registered almost 4.4 million of them. The north-eastern region of Veneto counted about 2.9 million cases. Italy's death toll was one of the most tragic in the world. In the last months, however, the country saw the end to this terrible situation: as of November 2023, 85 percent of the total Italian population was fully vaccinated. For a global overview, visit Statista's webpage exclusively dedicated to coronavirus, its development, and its impact.