SARS-CoV-2 and the COVID-19 pandemic

I have written clinical and technical papers, journal articles, chapters and textbooks for over 40 years, but none ever created the pain I felt in writing this chapter. It was written in late April and May 2020 when the SARS-CoV-19 pandemic was ramping up and the deaths were dramatically mounting. When I wrote the paragraph on mortality rates in April 2020, total deaths in the U.S. were 1371. As I write this abstract now in late May, the total U.S. deaths have reached 104,000 souls, a 76-fold increase. I wept. This chapter will help you understand the clinical and technical aspects of the COVID-19 pandemic. It will provide a clear understanding of the background, the pathogenesis, the clinical aspects and the AI applications for COVID-19 (albeit dated by the time you read this), but it can’t begin to convey the pain we’re all sharing from this human tragedy.