It received the official name of SARS-CoV-2. It has currently spread outside of China and reached other countries and continents. The number of those being infected is close to 100 000 and almost 3 000 of them died.
The virus is spreading so fast due to the ease with which it can be transmitted from one human to another. The other important issue with the disease is that people have no idea of being infected due to a long latent stage that can last 14 days. This is why people at risk caused by close interactions with infected patients are being quarantined for 2 weeks.
The coronavirus situation becomes even more complicated, since the vaccine has not been developed yet. It requires a long period of time, which can vary from 6-8 months to several years when taking clinical trials into account.
Fighting any new virus implies limiting its spreading speed. This requires following personal hygiene rules — washing hands after being outside or contacting with humans.
Doctors from numerous countries with developed healthcare systems speak of self-imposed isolation benefits to prevent being infected. This will allow to reduce the spreading of SARS-CoV-2 and provide time required to study it and develop the vaccine.
Experts claim that the death rate from SARS-CoV-2 is not greater than from a common seasonal flu. What's positive is that the life span of the virus in the external environment barely reaches 10 days. Also, considering that the weather will get warmer soon, the virus will be unable to survive for long, since coronaviruses don't like high temperatures and die quite fast.
Another positive aspect is that the situation in China becomes stable, therefore there is no need for panic.