cahya/simple-wikipedia huggingface dataset:
The COVID-19 pandemic spread to Vietnam on 23 January 2020, when its first known case of COVID-19 was reported. 

 the country had 2,383 confirmed cases, 1,717 recoveries, and 35 deaths. More than 1.7 million tests have been performed. Hai Duong, as of February 2021 is the most-affected province with 647 confirmed cases.

Cases
On 23 January, Vietnam confirmed the first two cases of COVID-19, a Chinese man (#1) travelling from Wuhan to Hanoi to visit his son who lived in Vietnam, and his son (#2), who was believed to have contracted the disease from his father. They were hospitalized in Ho Chi Minh City. On 29 January, the son fully recovered and was discharged. His father was discharged on 12 February.

From 17 to 23 April, no new cases were confirmed. However, there were reports of cases who tested positive again after being discharged. On 24 April, two more cases were confirmed: both were Vietnamese students who came back from Japan and quarantined on arrival.

Government response

Praise
Vietnam has been seen by the global media as having one of the best-organised epidemic control programs in the world, along with Taiwan and South Korea.

Despite not having the latest technology, the country's response to the outbreak has received praise for its quick response.

References

History of Vietnam
Vietnam
The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic was first confirmed to have spread to Denmark on 27 February 2020. As of 13 May 2020, there have been 10,667 confirmed cases. Among these, 533 patients have died, 8,663 have recovered, and 164 are in hospital, including 37 in intensive care.

Lockdown effect
Denmark was among the first European countries to introduce lockdown measures, starting on 13 March. Following a period of increase in hospitalizations, the number of people in hospital with COVID-19 has been falling since late March, with the number of cases in need of intensive care and ventilator being well below available resources. Starting on 15 April, a very slow and gradual reopening has been initiated, but if there are indications that the number of infections increases too fast, it will be reversed.

Greenland
The pandemic was confirmed to have spread to Greenland in March 2020. There have been 11 confirmed cases, but none in need of hospitalization. The last infected person had recovered on 8 April and there are no known active cases in Greenland.

Economic response
In an attempt to reduce the economic impact of the pandemic, the government has created a large economic packages with the support of all parties in Parliament. Nevertheless, it is expected that the decrease in GDP will be between 3 and 10% in 2020.

Notes

References

21st century in Denmark
Denmark
The first case relating to the COVID-19 pandemic in Singapore was confirmed on 23 January.

Numbers
By late-March and April, COVID-19 areas were detected at multiple areas for foreign workers, which soon caused a large number of new cases in the country. Singapore currently has the highest number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Southeast Asia, having overtaken Indonesia on 19 April.

Response
To fight against COVID-19, a multi-ministerial committee was formed on 22 January with Minister for National Development Lawrence Wong and Minister for Health Gan Kim Yong as the co-chairs and Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance Heng Swee Keat as advisors. 

Singapore also spent US$500,000 to support World Health Organization (WHO) efforts against COVID-19. 

In response to the growing number of new cases, Singapore announced on 3 April a strict number of measures called a "circuit breaker" from 7 April to 4 May. The circuit breaker was extended to 1 June on 21 April.

Cases
National authorities began reporting on suspected cases on 4 January, however the first confirmed case of infection was reported on 23 January. The person was a tourist from Wuhan. Until 30 January, there were a total to 13 confirmed cases, all of whom were visitors to Singapore from China. 

The first case involving a Singaporean was confirmed on 31 January after returning from Wuhan.

References

History of Singapore
Singapore
The COVID-19 pandemic was confirmed to have reached Iceland in February 2020.

Cases
, the total number of cases registered is 1,802, of which 1,780 have recovered and 10 have died. With a total population of 366,130 (as of 31 March 2020). The infection rate is 1 case per 203 people, one of the highest in the world. This is because more tests having been carried out in Iceland than any other country.

On 8 April, as the cases surged over 1,600 and more recoveries than new infections were recorded for the second day in a row. The total number of patients hospitalized in the country since the outbreak is 112.

References

21st century in Iceland
Iceland
The COVID-19 pandemic in Serbia is a current outbreak of Coronavirus disease 2019 in Serbia caused by SARS-CoV-2.

Cases
Its first case in Serbia was reported on 6 March 2020. The case was a 43-year-old man from Bačka Topola who had travelled to Budapest.

As of 12 May 2020, 151,304 individuals were tested of which there have been 10,243 confirmed cases, 3,600 recoveries and 220 deaths in Serbia.

Response
On 15 March 15, a state of emergency was declared. Many argue the declaration was against the constitution, since there was no debate among the MPs in the Serbian Parliament. All schools, Kindergarten and universities are closed.

The following day, a curfew from (20:00h) to (05:00) has been created across the whole country. In addition, people of the age of 65 and above have been forbidden to leave the house.

On 20 March, cafe bars, shopping malls, public transportation have all been closed. Food delivery, however is allowed.

References

History of Serbia
Serbia
Bolliger & Mabillard, commonly known as B&M, is a roller coaster company based in Monthey, Switzerland. After installing its first coaster in 1990, they have now installed more than 100 rollercoasters across the globe.

Other websites 

 

1980s establishments in Switzerland
1988 establishments in Europe
Companies of Switzerland
Roller coasters
The COVID-19 pandemic in Jamaica is part of an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), an infectious disease caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The COVID-19 pandemic was confirmed in Jamaica in 10 March 2020. It happened at the same time as the ongoing dengue fever epidemic in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Background
On 12 January, the World Health Organization (WHO) confirmed that a novel coronavirus was the cause of a respiratory illness on 31 December 2019. 

Unlike SARS outbreak of 2003, the case fatality ratio for COVID-19  has been much lower, but the transmission has been greater, with a significant total death toll.

Responses
The government announced a travel ban between China and Jamaica. All people entering Jamaica from China will be quarantine for at least 14 days, and anyone who was allowed to land and shows symptoms of the virus will be put in immediate isolation. 

On 12 March, Prime Minister Andrew Holness ordered all primary and secondary schools closed for 14 days.

References

21st century in Jamaica
Jamaica
The COVID-19 pandemic was confirmed to have reached Thailand on 13 January 2020, when the first case outside China was announced.

Cases
The first reported local transmission was confirmed on 31 January. The number of cases remained low throughout February, with forty confirmed by the end of the month. Cases had a sharp increase in mid-March. Confirmed cases rose to over a hundred per day over the following week, and public areas and businesses were ordered to close in Bangkok and several other provinces.

Response
Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha declared a state of emergency, beginning on 26 March. A curfew has been announced, beginning on 3 April 2020.

The Thai government's response to the outbreak was based on surveillance and tracing. Temperature and symptom screening for coronavirus testing was added at international airports, as well as at hospitals for patients with travel or contact history. 

Ads were introduced focused on self-monitoring for at-risk groups, practicing hygiene (especially hand washing), and avoiding crowds (or wearing masks if not possible).

While residents returning from high-risk countries were encouraged to self-quarantine, travel restrictions were not announced until 5 March, when four countries were designated as "disease-infected zones".

Criticism
The government has been criticized for its slow response to the crisis. In early February, in response to concerns over hoarding and price increase of face masks, the government issued price controls. The move failed to prevent shortages among hospitals, and became a scandal. Criticism was also for the slow response to end foreign travel.

Background 
On 12 January, the World Health Organization (WHO) confirmed that a novel coronavirus was the cause of a respiratory illness in a cluster of people in Wuhan City, Hubei Province, China, who had initially come to the attention of the WHO on 31 December 2019.

Unlike SARS of 2003, the case fatality ratio for COVID-19  has been much lower, but the transmission has been significantly greater, with a significant total death toll.

References

21st century in Thailand
Thailand
The first case of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic in Finland was confirmed on 29 January 2020, when a Chinese tourist visiting Ivalo from Wuhan tested positive for the virus.

Background
On 31 December 2019, the Health Commission of Wuhan, Hubei, China, informed the WHO about a large number of acute pneumonia cases with unknown origin in its province. On 9 January 2020, the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CCDC) reported the identification of the SARS-CoV-2 as the cause. 

On 27 January, following the developments of COVID-19 outbreak in mainland China, Finland's Ministry for Foreign Affairs advised citizens to avoid unnecessary travel to Hubei province. The following day, Finnair announced it would be ending its five weekly routes to Nanjing and Beijing Daxing until the end of March.

Numbers
On 30 January, Finland's health officials said that up to 24 Finnish people may have the virus.

Response
On 16 March, the president declared a state of emergency due to COVID-19. 272 laboratory-confirmed cases caused by COVID-19 had been diagnosed in Finland by 16 March 2020 at 2 pm.

References

21st century in Finland
Finland
The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic reached Ireland on 29 February 2020, and within three weeks had spread to all counties.

Response
On 12 March 2020, the government shut all schools, colleges, childcare facilities and cultural institutions. St Patrick's Day festivals and events were cancelled. Taoiseach, Leo Varadkar addressed the nation that night. On 24 March, almost all businesses, venues, facilities and amenities were shut; but gatherings of up to four were allowed. 

Three days later, the government banned all "non-essential" travel. People were made to keep apart in public.

Lockdown effect
The lockdown has caused a recession and a rise in unemployment, with a longer lockdown forecast to cause greater damage. 

By mid-April 2020, the National Public Health Emergency Team (NPHET) reported that the growth rate of the pandemic had been "as low as it needs to be", that the curve had flattened and that there would be no peak coming.

Cases
By 25 June 2021, the Department of Health had confirmed 270,477 cases and 4,989 deaths; a rate of 54,184  cases per million and 999  deaths per million population.
More than 90% of those that have died were aged over 65, and most also had underlying illnesses or lived in care homes.

References

21st century in the Republic of Ireland
Republic of Ireland
The first cases of the COVID-19 pandemic in Uruguay were reported on 13 March by the Ministry of Public Health. 

As of March 2020 there is an ongoing outbreak in Uruguay, with the first few cases imported from Italy and Spain.

Cause
The majority of early cases were caused by a wedding with 500 people in Montevideo. It was attended by a Uruguayan returning from Spain who later tested positive. 

On 14 March, it was announced that the two patients who took the bus ride on 8 March caused some 200 contacts, who were seen as suspected cases with home quarantine recommended.

Response
On 16 March, the government issued an order to close all border crossings except Carrasco International Airport. The border with Argentina was closed effective 17 March at midnight.

President Luis Lacalle Pou said that the idea of closing the border with Brazil was "a little more complex", because it is a dry land border, and many people living near the border. Lacalle Pou advised people over 65 to stay at home.

Flights from the United States were suspended effective 18 March, and from Europe effective 20 March at midnight (00:00), at which point the airport was to close.

The government recommended working from home and not traveling. To free up hospital beds, surgeries were rescheduled.

Temperature checks were introduced in prisons and activities for prisoners restricted.

References

History of Uruguay
Uruguay
The COVID-19 pandemic was confirmed to have spread to Paraguay on 7 March 2020 in a 32 year-old man from Guayaquil, Ecuador, living in San Lorenzo, Central department.

Response
On 10 March 2020, the Paraguayan government suspended classes and all activities that involve groups of people, as well as public and private events, for 15 days. Other measures include partial closure of borders, restricting entry of foreigners, and curfews.

Numbers
On 20 March 2020, the first death and the first case of community transmission were confirmed. The government declared a total quarantine until 3 May, with free movement restricted completely. Public movement is restricted to buying food, medicine and other essential items.

Reopening
On 4 May, the country began to “smart quarantine”, which is the slow return to work and social activities with social distancing and hygiene measures.

References

Paraguay
Paraguay
The COVID-19 pandemic was reported to have spread to Peru on 6 March 2020 when a 25-year-old man who had travelled to Spain, France and the Czech Republic tested positive. 

On 15 March 2020, President Martín Vizcarra announced a country-wide lockdown, closing borders, slowing down domestic travel, and ending nonessential business, except health facilities, food vendors, pharmacies, and financial institutions. 

Peru, with a total population of 32 million, has a total of 500 intensive care unit (ICU) beds available as of April 2020, and is working on expanding its nation-wide ventilator system from 40 to 540 machines within the coming months. 

The engineering and production is supplied by the Peruvian military.

References

History of Peru
Peru
The COVID-19 pandemic saw its first three confirmed cases in the Czech Republic on 1 March 2020.

Response
On 12 March, the government declared a state of emergency, for the first time in the country's modern history for the area of the entire country. On 16 March, the country closed its borders and issued a nationwide curfew. 

While originally planned until 24 March, the measures were later extended until 1 April and then again until the end of State of Emergency which was extended by the Chamber of Deputies until 30 April 2020 and then again until 17 May 2020.

A general closure of services and retail sale was in place from 14 March until 11 May, however all shops could conduct distance sales with delivery from 24 March onwards. Government didn't order closure of manufacturing plants, but many did so voluntarily during second half of March with gradual reopening from 14 April. 

Czech Republic was first European country to make wearing of facemasks mandatory from 19 March onwards.

Testing
COVID-19 testing was made widely available with drive through locations from 14 March, and from 27 March anyone with a fever, dry cough or shortness of breath being eligible for a free test. 

From 13 April onwards, COVID-19 testing passed its demand.

Deaths
Contact tracing in the country included also voluntary disclosure of mobile phone position and debit card payments data for previous days and quaranting of identified contacts. 

By 1 May 2020, altogether 257 COVID-19 related deaths were identified in the Czech Republic compared to 2,719 in similarly populous Sweden, which did not impose any lockdown.

Reopening
Czech Republic started gradual easing of measures from 7 April 2020 onwards with most restrictions being lifted by 11 May 2020.

References

History of the Czech Republic
Czech
The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic spread to Hungary on 4 March 2020, when the first cases in the country were announced.

Cases
The first coronavirus-related death was announced on 15 March on the government's official website.

On 18 March, the government announced that the virus had spread to every part of the country.

Response
As at the beginning the pandemic, Hungarians living in China who wanted to move back to Europe were transported home through France. The affected seven persons were under quarantine for two weeks. As they remained healthy during the next two weeks, they were released on 16 February.

The Government of Hungary launched its official webpage and official Facebook page about the novel coronavirus, both on 4 March 2020.

On 11 March, the Hungarian government declared a state of emergency.

References

21st century in Hungary
Hungary
The Chinese pandemic was confirmed to have spread to Afghanistan in Herat, was confirmed on 24 February 2020.

Numbers
As of 14 May 2020, there have been 5,639 positive cases, with 691 recoveries and 136 deaths across all 34 provinces in the country. Kabul Province has the highest number of COVID-19 cases in Afghanistan at 1556, followed by Herat with 935 cases, and then Kandahar with 613 cases.

People returning from Iran
In March 2020, at least 150,000 Afghans returned from Iran, due to the outbreak across the country, at the Islam Qala border in Herat Province. 

As many as over 1000 people a day crossed the border during the month. Between March and April 2020, the number of cases increased in Herat Province to over 200 cases. 

At the Chaman and Torkham borders, over 60,000 Afghans returned from Pakistan in three days.

Response
On 14 March, President Ashraf Ghani, told the public to avoid large public gatherings and to pay attention to hygiene to prevent the spread of the disease.

On 18 March, the Ministry of Interior Affairs banned all large gatherings, including the closure of venues that attract large crowds such as entertainment places, sports grounds, swimming pools, fitness clubs and wedding halls.

References

21st century in Afghanistan
Afghanistan
The COVID-19 pandemic was confirmed to have reached Pakistan on 26 February 2020.

Cases
The first case in Pakistan happened when a student in Karachi tested positive after returning from Iran. By 18 March, cases had been registered in all four provinces, the two autonomous territories, and the federal territory of Islamabad.

Numbers
 there have been  over 34,300 confirmed cases with 8,812 recoveries and 737 deaths in the country. Punjab has recorded the most cases at over  13,200, while Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has reported the most deaths in the country, a total of 245.

Response
The country has been put under a nation-wide lockdown until 9 May, which was initiated on 1 April and later extended twice. On 7 May, Prime Minister Imran Khan announced to slowly end lockdown phase from 9 May 2020.

Effect
According to a report by the federal government, Pakistan could have expected 50,000 cases of the disease by 25 April. However, the number by then remained under 13,000, less than half of what was expected.

Vaccine
Pakistan started vaccine trials in collaboration with Sinopharm, a Chinese pharmaceutical company in April 2020.

References

2020s in Pakistan
Pakistan
As part of an ongoing worldwide pandemic,  the first two patients with COVID-19 in Venezuela were confirmed on 13 March 2020; the first death was reported on 26 March.

Records
However, the first record of a patient claiming to have symptoms of coronavirus disease dates back to 29 February 2020, with government officials suspecting that the first person carrying the virus could have entered the country as early as 25 February.

Vulnerability
Venezuela is particularly vulnerable to the pandemic because of its ongoing socioeconomic and political crisis causing massive shortages of food and basic necessities, including medical supplies. 

The mass emigration of Venezuelan doctors has also caused chronic staff shortages in hospitals.

To prevent the spread of the disease into Venezuela, the governments of Brazil and Colombia temporarily closed their borders with Venezuela.

Response
Stay-at-home orders were announced on 15 March, when the country registered another seven cases, and introduced the next day across six states and the Caracas area. 

It was on the first day of the quarantine across six states, 16 March, that Argentina's ambassador in Venezuela, Eduardo Porretti, tested positive for the virus, and Nicolás Maduro announced that sixteen new cases were confirmed, bringing the total to 33. Maduro extended the quarantine to the entire country.

References

History of Venezuela
Venezuela
The COVID-19 pandemic was confirmed to have spread to Panama on 9 March 2020.

Cases
, Panama reported 2528 cases, 63 deaths and 16 recoveries. One of the dead was a 64-year-old male, who also suffered from diabetes and pneumonia. 

Of those infected, 83 were sent to a hospital. The infected individuals belong to the 29-59 age group and had each recently traveled abroad. 

A 13-year-old girl died of Covid-19 on 23 March.

Response
The government declared a state of emergency on 13 March 2020. The move frees US$50 million for a period of 180 days to purchase goods and services to combat COVID-19.

References

History of Panama
Panama
The COVID-19 pandemic was confirmed to have spread to Bolivia when its first two cases were confirmed on 10 March 2020. They were in the departments of Oruro and Santa Cruz.

On 12 March, Bolivia ended all public school sessions until 31 March, as well as all commercial flights to and from Europe for a long time. They also prohibited large-scale public gatherings of more than 1,000 people.

Following the announcement of the first confirmed case, incidents were reported among the local population, including panic buying of surgical masks and hand sanitizer and blocking access to hospitals.

On 19 March a patient under observation who was required to stay in isolation tried to escape but was caught when he tried to take a trip between departments.

References

History of Bolivia
Bolivia
The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic was first confirmed to have spread to Iraq in February 2020.

Cases
Cases have been confirmed in all 19 Iraqi Governorates as of the 27 March, with the Iraqi Kurdistan region having 309 (26%) of those cases as of 8 April. 

During the pandemic, Iraq reported its first confirmed cases of SARS-CoV-2 infections on 22 February 2020 in Najaf. By April, the number of confirmed cases had pass the hundred mark in Baghdad, Basra, Sulaymaniyah, Erbil and Najaf.

Testing
As of the 7 April, 28,414 tests have been done in Iraq as a whole (including the Kurdistan Region), with 1202 of them turning out positive.

Weakness
Iraq is thought to be especially vulnerable to the epidemic due to being weakened by the Iraq war and United Nations sanctions, by sectarian conflict and the rise of Islamic State over the past three decades.

References

21st century in Iraq
Iraq
The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic spread to Saudi Arabia on March 2, 2020, when the Ministry of Health confirmed the first case in the kingdom. 

By April 8, as many as 150 members of the Saudi royal family had tested positive. The king's nephew, Faisal bin Bandar Al Saud, has been put in the intensive care unit over coronavirus problems. 

As of November 25, the kingdom has 355,741 confirmed cases, the highest among the Arabian Gulf States with 344,311 recoveries and 5,811 deaths.

References

History of Saudi Arabia
Saudi
The COVID-19 pandemic was confirmed to have reached Colombia on 6 March 2020.

Cases
On 6 March, the Ministry of Health and Social Protection confirmed Colombia's first case of coronavirus, a 19-year-old female patient who recently traveled to Milan, Italy.

On 12 March, four more cases were confirmed, two in Bogotá and two in Neiva. Authorities declared a health emergency, suspending all public events involving more than 500 people, as well as implementing measures intended to keep cruise ships from docking in any national port.

Response
As of 17 March, Colombia is not allowing entry to those who are not Colombian citizens, permanent residents or diplomats.

References

History of Colombia
Colombia
The COVID-19 pandemic was confirmed to have spread to Argentina on 3 March 2020, with 6,866 people being infected.

Cases
On 7 March, the Ministry of Health confirmed the country's first death, a 64-year-old man who had traveled to Paris, France, who also had other health conditions. The case was only confirmed as positive after the patient's death. This also marked the first documented death from the virus in the country.

Response
On 19 March, Argentina entered a nation-wide lockdown. The Argentine government announced the extension of the lockdown, originally expected to end on March 31, then mid April, and later until 26 April. 

On 25 April, President Alberto Fernández announced that the lockdown would be extended in major cities until 10 May. The lockdown was lifted up throughout all the country since 10 May, excepting the Greater Buenos Aires, as the lockdown is expected to continue in that urban area at least until 24 May.

Notes

References

History of Argentina
Argentina
The COVID-19 pandemic in Trinidad and Tobago is part of the ongoing global viral pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), which was confirmed to have reached Trinidad and Tobago on 12 March 2020.

Cases
On 12 March, Trinidad and Tobago recorded its first case of COVID-19. It was a 52-year-old man who had recently been to Switzerland. He was self-isolated before he began showing symptoms of COVID-19.

On 13 March, a second case of COVID-19 was recorded by Trinidad and Tobago. Two more cases were confirmed on the night of 15 March, bringing the total to 4 cases.

On 26 March, the second reported COVID-19 death was an eighty-year-old male with pre-existing medical conditions. He was among the rescued cruise ship passengers quarantined at Camp Balandra.

Response
On 16 March, Prime Minister Keith Rowley announced that the country will close its borders to everyone except Trinidad and Tobago nationals and health workers for the next 14 days. Additionally, bars were to be closed and the school closures extended until 20 April.

References

Trinidad and Tobago
Trinidad and Tobago
The V.Flash (known as V.Smile Pro in Europe; stylized as V.FLASH HOME EDUTAINMENT SYSTEM) is a seventh-generation educational home video game console. It is a spinoff of the V.Smile series of video game consoles and was manufactured and released by VTech. Unlike the V.Smile, the game console uses 3D graphics and is designed for kids aged 5+.

It was revealed at the 2006 London Toy Fair, and came out in September 2006.

Games
Not many games were made for the console because it was not very successful. All games came out in the United States, the United Kingdom, Spain, France and Germany, except for of Bratz Fashion Pixiez: The Secret Necklace, which did not come out in the United Kingdom and Germany, Multisports, which was exclusive to Germany, and Scooby-Doo!: Ancient Adventure, which did not come out in Germany.

There are 10 titles known to have been released;

 Although the name is in English, Multisports was exclusive to Europe and no English version exists.

CDs
Unlike most other consoles that use CD-ROMs, this system's CD-ROMs are inside a plastic case to protect them from damage from touching, similar to 3.5" floppy disks or UMDs. The discs use the ISO 9660 file system, without any copy protection other than a simple sensor in the case jacket, making it possible to make a disc image from the disc. However, there are no known cases of piracy involving the V.Flash. Because of this, the V.Flash can also play audio CDs and user-recorded CD-Rs using the disc adapter that comes with the console.

Other hardware
The console's CPU is an ARM9 CPU from LSI Logic. Files are stored in 3 main formats: .mjp, .ptx, and .snd. .snd files are actually PCM WAV files.

The console can render 1.5 million polygons per second and has a 32 bit CPU, making the console directly comparable to fifth-generation game consoles, such as the PlayStation.

References

Other websites
 Official Site
 ARM Processor
 Vtech V.Flash Educational Line 
 http://dso.com/news/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=177100739 
 V.Flash reverse engineering 
 VFlash technical details and reverse-engineering
 V.Smile Shop Archived from the Wayback Machine on December 27th, 2013

Video game consoles
In February and March 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic that started in late 2019, health authorities in Poland began laboratory testing of suspected cases of infection by SARS-CoV-2, one of the seven known human coronaviruses, as well as home quarantining and monitoring.

Cases
The first case of a laboratory confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection in Poland was that of a man hospitalized in Zielona Góra, with confirmation announced officially on 4 March 2020. 

The local transmission phase of SARS-CoV-2 in Poland was declared to the World Health Organization on 10 March. 

The first death from coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in Poland was that of a 56-year-old woman on 12 March.

European help
Polish authorities did not take part in the 28 February 2020 European Union procedure for purchasing COVID-19 pandemic related medical equipment, in which 20 other member states participated. Poland applied on 6 March for the 17 March tender for the purchase of gloves, goggles, face shields, surgical masks and protective clothing.

Numbers
, there were 16,921 laboratory confirmed SARS-CoV-2 cases, 839 deaths, and 6131 recoveries.

Response
Lockdown-type control measures started on 10–12 March, closing schools and university classes and cancelling mass events, and were strengthened on 25 March. It limited non-family gatherings to two people and religious gatherings to six and did not allow any non-essential travel.

Deaths
Death counts initially only included deaths from lab-confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection. Starting on 1 April 2020, deaths that were clinically diagnosed as COVID-19 were also considered as COVID-19 deaths. , people in Poland who died in quarantine from suspected COVID-19 were not tested for SARS-CoV-2 in their autopsy.

Testing and lockdown
, there were 269,307 people under quarantine for suspected SARS-CoV-2 infection and 42,783 SARS-CoV-2 tests had been made since the beginning of testing. The lockdown restrictions were tightened starting on 31 March–1 April, making  individuals walking in streets to be separated by two metres, closing parks, boulevards, beaches, hairdressers and beauty salons.

References

21st century in Poland
Poland
There are no officially confirmed cases of COVID-19 in North Korea, though foreign analysts believe that the virus has spread to the country.

The North Korean government has taken extreme measures, including quarantines and travel restrictions.

On 25 July 2020, Leader Kim Jong-un held an emergency meeting after a suspected case of COVID-19 detected on North Korean town of Kaesong. Then the city was put on lockdown.

Response
North Korea was one of the first countries to close borders due to COVID-19. The government has created widespread travel restrictions, including closing the border to foreign tourists in late January 2020 and then suspending flights and banning travel in and out of the country.

Though many parts of the border were closed, the bridge between Dandong and Sinuiju remained open and allowed supplies to be delivered. 

In late February, the North Korean government said that it would keep the border closed until a cure was found.

On 18 March 2020, Kim Jong-un ordered the construction of new hospitals in North Korea.

References

History of North Korea
North Korea
The first case of the COVID-19 pandemic in Israel was confirmed on 21 February 2020, after a female citizen tested positive for coronavirus disease 2019 after return from quarantine on the Diamond Princess ship in Japan.

Response
As a result, a 14-day home isolation rule was created for anyone who had visited South Korea or Japan, and a ban was placed on non-residents and non-citizens who were in South Korea for 14 days before their arrival.

Beginning on 11 March, Israel began enforcing social distancing and other rules to limit the spread of infection. 

Gatherings were first restricted to no more than 100 people, but on 15 March this was lowered to 10 people. 

On 19 March, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared a national state of emergency. Israelis were not allowed to leave their homes unless absolutely necessary.

Cases
As coronavirus diagnoses spiked in the city of Bnei Brak, reaching nearly 1,000 infected individuals at the beginning of April, the cabinet voted to declare the city a "restricted zone". On 12 April, Haredi neighborhoods in Jerusalem were placed under closure.

On 20 March, an 88-year-old Holocaust survivor in Jerusalem who suffered from previous illnesses was announced as the country's first death. 

Minister of Health Yaakov Litzman and his wife tested positive for the coronavirus on 2 April; Litzman was the first member of the cabinet to be infected.

References

21st century in Israel
Israel
The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic was first confirmed to have spread to Honduras on 10 March 2020.

Cases
The first case of COVID-19 was when two women tested positive for the disease after one of them landed on Toncontin International Airport in a flight from Madrid, Spain and the other on Ramón Villeda Morales Airport in a flight from Geneva, Switzerland.

, there are 1,685 confirmed cases in the country, 1211 in the Cortes Department, 259 in the Francisco Morazan Department, 56 in the Yoro Department, 47 in the Atlantida Department, and 42 in the Colon Department; 105 people have died and 154 have recovered from the virus and its complications.

Confirmed cases have been reported in 16 of the country's 18 departments.

Response
Since then, the country has closed all of its borders. They suspended classes at all levels of education nationwide, ordered a nationwide curfew, and price freezes for basic food items and certain medical supplies and equipment. This was done to stop prices from going up due to panic buying.

References

History of Honduras
Honduras
The COVID-19 pandemic was confirmed to have reached Egypt by 14 February 2020. As of 1 May 2020, there have been 5,895 confirmed cases, 1,460 recoveries and 406 deaths.

Response
All flights from China to Egypt have been banned since 26 January. Egypt's health ministry announced the first case in the country at Cairo International Airport involving a Chinese national on 14 February. 

Egyptian authorities had talked to the World Health Organization (WHO) and the patient had been placed in quarantined isolation in hospital.

Cases
On 8 March, a 60-year-old German citizen died in Hurghada, the first German fatality from the virus. The next day, the World Health Organization said that there were 56 confirmed cases in Egypt. On the same day, the Egyptian Minister of Tourism said that they discovered 3 additional cases with three people who work in a hotel.

In early April, cases surpassed 1000.

References

21st century in Egypt
Egypt
The COVID-19 pandemic was first confirmed to have spread to Belgium on 4 February 2020.

Cases
The first case was when a Belgian national out of a group of nine Belgians came from Wuhan to Brussels was reported to have tested positive for the COVID-19 virus. 

The disease spreading within Belgium was then confirmed early March, and was linked to holidaymakers returning from Northern Italy at the end of the half-term holidays.

As of 14 May 2020, there have been 54,288 confirmed cases reported by the Belgian authorities, with a total of 8,924 deaths and 14,111 discharged patients. 

Currently, 1,966 people in Belgian hospitals are suffering from COVID-19, including 407 in intensive care. The actual number of victims maybe higher due to limited testing.

Notes

References

21st century in Belgium
Belgium
The COVID-19 pandemic was first recorded to have arrived in Syria on 14 March 2020. The first case was confirmed on 22 March.

Cases
The first case of COVID-19 in Syria possibly came from Pakistan where 8 individuals with a travel history including Syria were confirmed to have the virus.

Weakness
Syria is considered very weak to the epidemic due to the ongoing civil war and horrible humanitarian situation.

Response
According to the Syrian Ministry of Health, there are 5 labs that are able to test for the coronavirus located in 4 governorates.

According to the Syrian Ministry of Health, There are 32 quarantine centers for suspected COVID-19 cases located in 13 governorates (All governorates Except Idlib).

According to the Syrian Ministry of Health, there are 13 Treatment centers dedicated for COVID-19 patients located in 11 governorates.

References

21st century in Syria
Syria
The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic was confirmed to have reached Sweden on 31 January 2020.

Cases
The first case when a woman returning from Wuhan tested positive. On 26 February, following outbreaks in Italy and in Iran, multiple travel-related appeared in Sweden. The disease began to spread in the country was on 9 March in the Stockholm region. Since then, individuals in every län (county) have tested positive for COVID-19.

The first death was reported on 11 March in Stockholm, a case of community transmission.

Response
Sweden has not created a lockdown, unlike many other countries, and kept large parts of its society open. 

The Public Health Agency issued recommendations to: if possible, work from home; avoid unnecessary travel within the country; to engage in social distancing; and for people above 70 to stay at home, as much as possible.

Testing and numbers
Sweden began testing for the virus in January, and by early May, about 148,000 tests had been performed. , there have been 27,909 confirmed cases, of which 1,768 received intensive care, and 3,460 deaths related to COVID-19 in Sweden.

Notes

References

21st century in Sweden
Sweden
The Holy See reported the first case of infection in Vatican City during the COVID-19 pandemic at the end of March 2020.

Unlike other countries that report cases within a given territory or cases of residents or citizens of a territory, the Holy See reports on cases "in Vatican City State and among the employees of the Holy See" regardless of location of testing, treatment, or residence.

There are 12 confirmed cases of COVID-19 among the Vatican's residents and employees; there are no associated deaths. The 12 cases include 10 employees, 1 new hire, and 1 resident of Vatican City.

At the very end of February, Pope Francis became ill with symptoms of a cold, but he tested negative for COVID-19.

References

Vatican City
Vatican
The COVID-19 pandemic was confirmed to have reached Lebanon in February 2020.

Cases
On 21 February 2020, Lebanon confirmed its first case of COVID-19: a 45-year-old woman traveling back from Qom, Iran tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 and was transferred to a hospital in Beirut.

On 26 February, a second woman, who returned from Iran on the same Mahan Air flight as the first patient, also tested positive.

On 27 February, a 77-year-old Iranian man, who arrived from Iran on 24 February, tested positive in Beirut.

On 28 February, a Syrian woman tested positive and was admitted to Rafik Hariri University Hospital in Beirut.

On 29 February, the total reached 7 confirmed cases.

On 10 March, the first coronavirus-related death is recorded.

References

History of Lebanon
Lebanon
The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic was confirmed to have spread to Libya on 24 March 2020, when the first case was officially confirmed in Tripoli.

Cases
On 24 March, Libya confirmed its first COVID-19 case, a 73-year-old man who had returned to the country in early March from a trip to Saudi Arabia.

On 2 April, Libya confirmed its first COVID-19 death. It was an 85-year-old Algerian woman.

Weakness
Libya is seen weak during the pandemic due to the effects from the ongoing Libyan Civil War, which has led to a horrible humanitarian situation and a destroyed national healthcare system.

References

History of Libya
Libya
The COVID-19 pandemic was confirmed to have spread to Switzerland on 25 February 2020 when the first case of COVID-19 was confirmed following a COVID-19 outbreak in Italy.

Cases
The first case was a 70-year-old man in the Italian-speaking canton of Ticino which borders Italy, tested positive for SARS-CoV-2. The man had previously visited Milan. Afterwards, multiple cases related to the Italy areas were discovered in multiple cantons, including Basel-City, Zürich, and Graubünden. 

Multiple isolated cases not related to the Italy clusters were also confirmed.

Response
On 28 February, the national government, the Federal Council, banned all events with more than 1,000 participants. On 16 March, schools and most shops were closed nationwide, and on 20 March, all gatherings of more than five people in public spaces were banned. The government also put restrictions on border crossings. They also announced economic support measures worth 40 billion Swiss francs.

References

21st century in Switzerland
Switzerland
The COVID-19 pandemic was confirmed to have reached Ethiopia on 13 March 2020.

Cases
On 13 March, the first coronavirus case was reported in the country and the victim later was a Japanese citizen. The process of contact tracing is currently taking place.

On 28 March, the Ministry of Health reported that one patient has fully recovered from the virus.

On 30 March, the Prime Minister said in a statement that the total number of cases in the country has risen to 23.

Response
Ethiopia will not be enforcing a travel ban, with Tadesse stating that the virus is in 134 countries, and enforcing a travel ban will not work.

References

History of Ethiopia
Ethiopia
The COVID-19 pandemic was confirmed to have reached Zimbabwe in March 2020. As of 4 August, there are 4,221 confirmed cases, 81 deaths, and 1,238 recoveries.

Weakness
Some of Zimbabwe's provinces, especially Manicaland, Masvingo and Mashonaland East, also struggled with a malaria outbreak at the same time. Though malaria is treatable, the healthcare system faces drug shortages and increase strain with the spread of COVID-19.

Cases
On 21 March Zimbabwe reported its first COVID-19 case: a male resident of Victoria Falls who traveled back from the UK via South Africa on 15 March. No deaths have been reported.

Two more cases in the country were confirmed on 21 March, both cases were in Harare. On the 23 March, it was confirmed that noted Zimbabwean journalist Zororo Makamba was the first person in the country to die from the virus.

References

History of Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe
The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic was confirmed to have spread to the Netherlands on 27 February 2020.

Cases
The first COVID-19 case was confirmed in Tilburg. It was a 56-year-old Dutchman who had arrived in the Netherlands from Italy. As of 14 May, there are 43,481 confirmed cases of infection and 5,590 confirmed COVID-19-deaths. The first death occurred on 6 March, when an 86-year-old patient died in Rotterdam.

Response
Measures were taken by the Rutte III cabinet for the public health to prevent the spread of this virus disease, including the “intelligent lockdown”.

Testing
By mid-March, the country could test about 1,000 samples per day, which is less than other European countries. This explains the large number of deaths in COVID cases there.

Notes

References

2020s in the Netherlands
Netherlands
The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic spread to Austria on 25 February 2020, when a pair of cases were confirmed.

Cases
The first cases involved a 24-year-old man and a 24-year-old woman who were travelling from Lombardy, Italy, and were treated at a hospital in Innsbruck.

On 12 March 2020, Austria confirmed the first death of COVID-19, a 69-year-old man from Vienna died in Vienna's Kaiser-Franz-Josef Hospital.

Response
On 10 March 2020, the government announced that all universities would close their classes at the latest by 16 March. 

All outdoor events with more than 500 people and all indoor events with more than 100 people were cancelled. All children older than 14 years old were ordered to stay at home, starting 15 March, with the younger children starting 17 March. This applied until 4 April. 

Travel restrictions for people coming from Italy are created. The government asked the general public to avoid social contact and announced even further restrictions to be made soon.

References

21st century in Austria
Austria
The first confirmed case relating to the COVID-19 pandemic in Yemen was announced on 10 April 2020 in Hadhramaut. Organizations called the news a "devastating blow" and a "nightmare scenario" because of the country's lack of healthcare and human rights.

Cases
The first case was confirmed on 10 April, the patient was a 60-year-old man in the southern oil-producing region of Hadhramaut. 

On 29 April, Yemen recorded five new cases of coronavirus, including two deaths, all in the southern Yemeni port city of Aden.

Statistics

References

Yemen
Yemen
The COVID-19 pandemic was first confirmed in Sri Lanka on 27 January 2020, after a 44-year-old Chinese woman from Hubei Province in China was admitted to the National Institute of Infection Diseases.

As of 13 May 2020, 889 confirmed cases have been reported in the country with 9 deaths. On 3 March 2020, the first reported case involving a Sri Lankan origin outside Sri Lanka was reported in Italy. 

As of 23 March, forty-five quarantine centers have been built in the country by the Sri Lanka Army. Nearly 3,500 people have been under quarantine in 45 quarantine centers which also include 31 foreigners from 14 countries.

As of 25 March 2020, Sri Lankan authorities have tracked down over 14,000 people who had contacted the identified patients and had ordered self-quarantine for such people.

As of 16 April 2020, Sri Lanka has been named as 16th high risk country prone to virus pandemic. Sri Lanka has been ranked 9th best country in the world for its successful immediate response on tackling the virus.

References

21st century in Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka
The COVID-19 pandemic was confirmed to have spread to Bangladesh in March 2020.

Cases
The first three known cases were reported on 7 March 2020 by the country's epidemiology institute IEDCR. Infections remained low until the end of March but saw a large rise in April.
In the week of 11 April, new cases in Bangladesh grew 1,155%, the highest in Asia, ahead of Indonesia with 186%.

, there are a total of 18,863 confirmed cases besides 3,361 recovered & 283 deaths in the country of which 14 people have died in the last 24 hours.

Criticisms
Experts criticised the lack of amount of  tests performed in the country that has a population of over 160 million. 

Newspaper reports and social media continued to report about additional deaths of patients with COVID-19 symptoms. Some of the deceased were treated at COVID-19 isolation centres at hospitals in the districts and others were denied treatment, though no tests were given to confirm contagion.

Response
On 22 March, Bangladesh declared a 10-day shut down effective from 26 March to 4 April. This was later increased to 5 May

References

2020s in Bangladesh
Bangladesh