Epidemiologic Features and Clinical Course of Patients Infected With SARS-CoV-2 in Singapore

Abstract

The third novel coronavirus in 17 years emerged in Wuhan, China, in December 2019.¹ Phylogenetics has indicated that severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is closely related to bat-derived SARS-like coronaviruses.² Early reports from Wuhan described the associated coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) as a SARS-like atypical pneumonia in which 26% to 33% of patients required intensive care and 4% to 15% died.^1,3,4 A large case series of 72 314 infected individuals has since refined these initial estimates in China to severe disease in 14% and a case-fatality rate of 2.3%.⁵