COVID-19 (Coronavirus Disease 2019) is the respiratory disease that results from a highly contagious strain of coronavirus called "severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2" (SARS-CoV-2) and its variants (which include the Delta and Omicron variants). Also known as 2019 Novel Coronavirus, the virus that causes COVID-19:

The response to COVID-19 has been supported internationally by the World Health Organization (WHO), which:

The WHO is addressing the COVID-19 pandemic through financial assistance, technical guidance, and visits to health facilities.

In the US, a COVID-19-related public health emergency (PHE) and national emergency (NE) were declared in January 2020 and March 2020, respectively. The White House, in coordination with the federal administrative agencies, formally ended the COVID-19 PHE and NE (regarding various compliance mandates and other provisions) on May 11, 2023 (see Article, COVID-19 Public Health Emergency (PHE) and National Emergency (NE) Wind-Down: Health and Welfare Plan Compliance Issues). On April 10, 2023, President Biden also signed legislation that ended the NE, as declared under the National Emergencies Act (Pub. L. No. 118-3 (Apr. 10, 2023)).

For resources to help manage the COVID-19 crisis, see Global Coronavirus Toolkit. For a list of administrative agencies in various countries that are leading the efforts to mitigate the effects of COVID-19, see Agencies Leading COVID-19 Response Chart.