Epidemiology, Spectrum, and Impact of COVID-19 on Children, Adolescents, and Pregnant Women

Introduction and timeline of the pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has spread from a local outbreak to a global pandemic within months. As of 29 June 2020, over 10 million confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 499,000 deaths have been reported in 216 countries, areas or territories across the world (1). Of all confirmed cases, the Americas (50.0%) and Europe (27.0%) represent the largest proportion of reported cases. This is followed by Eastern Mediterranean (10.0%), SouthEast Asia (8.0%), Africa (3.0%) and Western Pacific (2.0%) (2). Almost 75% of recent cases are reported from ten countries, United States of America (2496628), Brazil (1313667), Russian Federation (641156 ), India (548318), The United Kingdom (311155), Peru (275989), Chile (271982), Spain (248770), Italy (240310), Iran (Islamic Republic of) (222669). Many countries in all regions are still experiencing an increase in the number of cases (3).