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Coronaviruses are a family of viruses that were discovered in the 1960s but whose origin is still unknown.
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The virus infects the respiratory tract and causes symptoms ranging from a mild condition (dry cough, fever ...) to acute respiratory failure and life-threatening pneumonia. The associated disease has been called Covid-19.
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The mechanisms have not been determined with precision, although the most accepted hypothesis attributes its transmission to contact and to small drops of saliva that the carrier of the virus excretes when coughing. Contagion occurs between people who are nearby.
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The percentage of deaths due to Covid-19 is between 2% and 4% in the province of Wuhan (epicenter of the epidemic) and around 0.7% outside, according to data from the World Health Organization.
