evidence: 28 March 2023 | Q&AWHO is continuously monitoring and responding to this pandemic. This questions and answers page will be updated as more is known about COVID-19, how it spreads and how it is affecting people worldwide. For more information, regularly check the WHO coronavirus pages. https://www.who.int/covid-19 COVID-19 is the disease caused by a coronavirus called SARS-CoV-2. WHO first learned of this new virus on 31 December 2019, following a report of a cluster of cases of so-called viral pneumonia in Wuhan, People’s Republic of China. [...] Most people make a full recovery without needing hospital treatment. For those with COVID-19 who are at high risk of severe illness (see question below), WHO has made recommendations on which drug treatments are effective in improving outcomes and preventing hospital admissions.