HOW THE WORLD WAS PARALYSED IN 66 DAYS

Two months ago, the word coronavirus was barely known. But in just 66 days, the Covid-19 strand that originated at a meat market in Wuhan, China, has swept the world at devastating speed, with more than 153,000 people reported infected.

Named because of the crown-like spikes on the virus’s surface, the family includes bugs responsible for everything from the common cold to Sars, and can be transmitted between animals and people. Several known coronaviruses are circulating in animals that have not yet infected humans.

There is thought to be a substantial underreporting of cases, particularly in patients with milder symptoms – or none at all.

The head of the World Health Organisation, which has declared a pandemic, has said our planet is in ‘uncharted territory’ – adding that stigma about the disease is ‘more dangerous than the virus itself’.

With dozens of countries in lockdown, the world economy in crisis and people’s lives at risk, the virus threatens to change mankind’s way of life for years to come...