C. Loewe, Vienna (Austria)
Introduction
The pandemic spread of the severe acute respiratory syndrome – coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) or coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) – has caused the largest and most severe global health crisis of recent times. The economic effects cannot be estimated yet, but it is evident that the economy of almost all countries in the world will shrink in 2020 as a consequence of this pandemic. The number of infected patients is still rapidly increasing, and same is true for the number of patients dying due to or with SARS-CoV-2 infection. Currently, more than 15 million people are infected, and more than 630,000 are reported to have died in connection with this infection [1].
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