COVID-19 is an infectious disease caused by a virus called SARS-CoV-2 which primarily strikes the airways but can also affect other organs.

The first cases occurred in Wuhan, China, at the end of 2019. A little later the virus spread to other countries and caused a worldwide pandemic.

The name COVID is an abbreviation of “coronavirus disease”. The number 19 stands for the year 2019 when it all began.

More information is available on infektionsschutz.de, the website of the Federal Centre for Health Education (BZgA), on the Health Ministry’s websites Zusammen gegen Corona and gesund.bund.de and from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI).

Information about COVID-19 is available in various languages from the World Health Organization (WHO) and in English from Pfizer Inc.

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