A cluster of respiratory illness, originating in the Chinese province of Hubei in December last year, has health officials on high alert around the world. In January, the causative agent of the disease was found to be a novel coronavirus, dubbed SARS-CoV-2. It has now infected more than 82,000 people and claimed over 2,800 lives, with signs of a slowdown in China, but outbreaks of the disease taking hold in Italy, South Korea and Japan.
