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The eruption of Mt. Vesuvius affected Pompeii by covering it by dust, stone, and it also covered the people living there with stone.

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The 1883 eruption of Krakatoa ( Indonesian: Letusan Krakatau 1883) in the Sunda Strait began on 20 May 1883 and peaked on the late morning of Monday, 27 August 1883, when over 70% of the island of Krakatoa and its surrounding archipelago were destroyed as it collapsed into a caldera.

The eruption was one of the deadliest and most destructive volcanic events in recorded history. The explosion was heard 3,110 kilometres (1,930 mi) away in Perth, Western Australia, and Rodrigues near Mauritius, 4,800 kilometres (3,000 mi) away. The sound was reportedly heard in 50 different locations around the world and the sound wave is recorded to have travelled the globe seven times. At least 36,417 deaths are attributed to the eruption and the tsunamis it created.

Significant additional effects were also felt around the world in the days and weeks after the volcano's eruption. Additional seismic activity was reported until February 1884, but any reports after October 1883 were later dismissed by Rogier Verbeek's investigation into the eruption.

In the years before the 1883 eruption, seismic activity around the Krakatoa volcano was intense, with earthquakes felt as far away as Australia. Beginning on 19 May 1883, steam venting began to occur regularly from Perboewatan, the northernmost of the island's three cones. Eruptions of ash reached an estimated altitude of 6 km (20,000 ft) and explosions could be heard in New Batavia ( Jakarta) 160 km (99 mi) away.

Eruptions at Krakatoa started again around 16 June, with loud explosions and a thick black cloud covering the islands for five days. On 24 June, a prevailing east wind cleared the cloud, and two ash columns could be seen issuing from Krakatoa. The seat of the eruption is believed to have been a new vent or vents that formed between Perboewatan and Danan. The violence of the ongoing eruptions caused tides in the vicinity to be unusually high, and ships at anchor had to be moored with chains. Earthquakes were felt at Anyer, Banten, and ships began to report large pumice masses to the west in the Indian Ocean.

In early August, a Dutch topographical engineer, Captain H. J. G. Ferzenaar, investigated the Krakatoa islands. He noted three major ash columns (the newer from Danan), which obscured the western part of the island, and steam plumes from at least eleven other vents, mostly between Danan and Rakata. When he landed, he noted an ash layer about 0.5 m (1 ft 8 in) thick, and the destruction of all vegetation, leaving only tree stumps. He advised against any further landings.

By 25 August, the Krakatoa eruptions intensified. At about 1:00 pm on 26 August, the volcano went into its paroxysmal phase. By 2:00 pm, a black cloud of ash could be seen 27 km (17 mi) high. At this point, the eruption was almost continuous and explosions could be heard every ten minutes or so. Ships within 20 km (12 mi) of the volcano reported heavy ash fall, with pieces of hot pumice up to 10 cm (4 in) in diameter landing on their decks. Between 7:00 pm and 8:00 pm, a small tsunami hit the shores of Java and Sumatra, 40 km (25 mi) away.

On 27 August, four enormous explosions occurred, which marked the climax of the eruption. At 5:30 am, the first explosion was at Perboewatan, triggering a tsunami heading to Telok Betong, now known as Bandar Lampung. At 6:44am, Krakatoa exploded again at Danan, with the resulting tsunami propagating eastward and westward. The third and largest explosion, at 10:02 am, was so violent that it was heard 3,110 km (1,930 mi) away in Perth, Western Australia, and the Indian Ocean island of Rodrigues near Mauritius, 4,800 km (3,000 mi) away, where the blast was thought to have been cannon fire from a nearby ship. The third explosion has been reported as the loudest sound heard in historic times. The loudness of the blast heard 160 km (100 mi) from the volcano has been calculated to have been 180 dB. Each explosion was accompanied by tsunamis estimated to have been over 30 metres (98 feet) high in places. A large area of the Sunda Strait and places on the Sumatran coast were affected by pyroclastic flows from the volcano. The energy released from the explosion has been estimated to be equal to about 200 megatonnes of TNT (840 petajoules), roughly four times as powerful as the Tsar Bomba, the most powerful thermonuclear weapon ever detonated. At 10:41am, a landslide tore off half of Rakata volcano, along with the remainder of the island to the north of Rakata, causing the final explosion.

The pressure wave generated by the colossal third explosion radiated out from Krakatoa at 1,086 km/h (675 mph). The eruption is estimated to have reached 310 dB, loud enough to be heard 5,000 kilometres (3,100 mi) away. It was so powerful that it ruptured the eardrums of sailors 64 km (40 miles) away on ships in the Sunda Strait, and caused a spike of more than 8.5 kilopascals (2.5 inHg) in pressure gauges 160 km (100 miles) away, attached to gasometers in the Batavia gasworks, sending them off the scale.

The pressure wave was recorded on barographs all over the world. Several barographs recorded the wave seven times over the course of five days: four times with the wave travelling away from the volcano to its antipodal point, and three times travelling back to the volcano. Hence, the wave rounded the globe three and a half times. Ash was propelled to an estimated height of 80 km (50 mi).

The eruptions diminished rapidly after that point, and by the morning of 28 August, Krakatoa was silent. Small eruptions, mostly of mud, continued into October 1883. By then, less than 30% of the original island remained.

The combination of pyroclastic flows, volcanic ash, and tsunamis associated with the Krakatoa eruptions had disastrous regional consequences. Some land in Banten, approximately 90 km south, was never repopulated; it reverted to jungle and is now the Ujung Kulon National Park. The official death toll recorded by the Dutch authorities was 36,417.

"The Burning Ashes of Ketimbang"

Verbeek and others believe that the final major Krakatoa eruption was a lateral blast, or pyroclastic surge. Around noon on 27 August 1883, a rain of hot ash fell around Ketimbang (now Katibung in Lampung Province) in Sumatra. Approximately 1,000 people were killed in Sumatra; there were no survivors from the 3,000 people on the island of Sebesi. There are numerous reports of groups of human skeletons floating across the Indian Ocean on rafts of volcanic pumice and washing up on the east coast of Africa, up to a year after the eruption.

Ships as far away as South Africa rocked as tsunamis hit them, and the bodies of victims were found floating in the ocean for months after the event. The tsunamis which accompanied the eruption were believed to have been caused by gigantic pyroclastic flows entering the sea; each of the four great explosions was accompanied by large pyroclastic flows resulting from the gravitational collapse of the eruption columns.[citation needed ] This caused several cubic kilometres of material to enter the sea, displacing an equal volume of seawater. The town of Merak was destroyed by a tsunami which was 46 metres high. Some of the pyroclastic flows reached the Sumatran coast as much as 40 km (25 mi) away, having apparently moved across the water on a cushion of superheated steam. There are also indications of submarine pyroclastic flows reaching 15 km (9.3 mi) from the volcano.

Smaller waves were recorded on tidal gauges as far away as the English Channel. These occurred too soon to be remnants of the initial tsunamis and may have been caused by concussive air waves from the eruption. These air waves circled the globe several times and were still detectable on barographs five days later.

In the aftermath of the eruption, it was found that Krakatoa had almost entirely disappeared, except for the southern third. The Rakata cone was cut off along a vertical cliff, leaving behind a 250-metre (820 ft) cliff. Of the northern two-thirds of the island, only a rocky islet named Bootsmansrots (' Bosun's Rock'), a fragment of Danan, was left; Poolsche Hoed had totally disappeared.

The huge amount of material deposited by the volcano drastically altered the surrounding ocean floor. It is estimated that as much as 18-21 km ³ (4.3-5.0 cu mi) of ignimbrite were deposited over 1,100,000 km ² (420,000 sq mi), largely filling the 30-40 m (98-131 ft) deep basin around the mountain. The land masses of Verlaten and Lang islands were increased, as was the western part of the remnant of Rakata. Much of this gained material quickly eroded away, but volcanic ash continues to be a significant part of the geological composition of these islands. The basin was 100 m (330 ft) deep before the eruption, and 200-300 m (660-980 ft) after.

Two nearby sandbanks (called Steers and Calmeyer after the two naval officers who investigated them) were built up into islands by ashfall, but the sea later washed them away. Seawater on hot volcanic deposits on Steers and Calmeyer had caused steam to rise, which some mistook for a continued eruption.

The eruption caused a volcanic winter. In the year following the eruption, average Northern Hemisphere summer temperatures fell by 0.4 °C (0.72 °F). The record rainfall that hit Southern California during the water year from July 1883 to June 1884 - Los Angeles received 970 millimetres (38.18 in) and San Diego 660 millimetres (25.97 in) - has been attributed to the Krakatoa eruption. There was no El Niño during that period as is normal when heavy rain occurs in Southern California, but many scientists doubt that there was a causal relationship.[failed verification ]

The eruption injected an unusually large amount of sulfur dioxide (SO ₂) gas high into the stratosphere, which was subsequently transported by high-level winds all over the planet. This led to a global increase in sulfuric acid (H ₂SO ₄) concentration in high-level cirrus clouds. The resulting increase in cloud reflectivity (or albedo) reflected more incoming light from the sun than usual, and cooled the entire planet until the sulfur fell to the ground as acid precipitation.

The 1883 Krakatoa eruption darkened the sky worldwide for years afterwards and produced spectacular sunsets throughout the world for many months. British artist William Ascroft made thousands of colour sketches of the red sunsets halfway around the world from Krakatoa in the years after the eruption. The ash caused "such vivid red sunsets that fire engines were called out in New York, Poughkeepsie, and New Haven to quench the apparent conflagration." This eruption also produced a Bishop's Ring around the sun by day, and a volcanic purple light at twilight. In 2004, an astronomer proposed the idea that the red sky shown in Edvard Munch's 1893 painting is also an accurate depiction of the sky over Norway after the eruption.

Weather watchers of the time tracked and mapped the effects on the sky. They labelled the phenomenon the "equatorial smoke stream". This was the first identification of what is known today as the jet stream. For several years following the eruption, it was reported that the moon appeared to be blue and sometimes green. This was because some of the ash clouds were filled with particles about 1 μm wide - the right size to strongly scatter red light, while allowing other colours to pass. White moonbeams shining through the clouds emerged blue, and sometimes green. People also saw lavender suns and, for the first time, recorded noctilucent clouds.

The fate of northern Krakatoa has been the subject of some dispute among geologists. It was originally proposed that the island had been blown apart by the force of the eruption. Most of the material deposited by the volcano is clearly magmatic in origin, and the caldera formed by the eruption is not extensively filled with deposits from the 1883 eruption. This indicates that the island subsided into an empty magma chamber at the end of the eruption sequence, rather than having been destroyed during the eruptions.

The established hypotheses - based on the findings of contemporary investigators - assume that part of the island subsided before the first explosions on the morning of 27 August. This forced the volcano's vents to be below sea level, causing:

major flooding which created a series of phreatic explosions (interaction of ground water and magma).

seawater to cool the magma enough for it to crust over and produce a "pressure cooker" effect that was relieved only when explosive pressures were reached.

There is geological evidence which does not support the assumption that only subsidence before the explosion was the cause. For instance, the pumice and ignimbrite deposits are not of a kind consistent with a magma-seawater interaction. These findings have led to other hypotheses:

an underwater land slump or partial subsidence suddenly exposed the highly pressurized magma chamber, opening a pathway for seawater to enter the magma chamber and setting the stage for a magma-seawater interaction.

the final explosions may have been caused by magma mixing: a sudden infusion of hot basaltic magma into the cooler and lighter magma in the chamber below the volcano. This would have resulted in a rapid and unsustainable increase in pressure, leading to a cataclysmic explosion. Evidence for this theory is the existence of pumice consisting of light and dark material, the dark material being of much hotter origin. Such material reportedly is less than five per cent of the content of the Krakatoa ignimbrite and some investigators have rejected this as a prime cause of the 27 August explosions.

A numerical model for a Krakatoa hydrovolcanic explosion and the resulting tsunami was described by Mader & Gittings, in 2006. A high wall of water is formed that is initially higher than 100 metres driven by the shocked water, basalt, and air.

Although the violent phase of the 1883 eruption was over by late afternoon of 27 August, after light returned by 29 August, reports continued for months that Krakatoa was still in eruption. One of the earliest duties of Verbeek's committee was to determine if this was true and also verify reports of other volcanoes erupting on Java and Sumatra. In general, these were found to be false, and Verbeek discounted any claims of Krakatoa still erupting after mid-October as due to steaming of hot material, landslides due to heavy monsoon rains that season, and "hallucinations due to electrical activity" seen from a distance.

No signs of further activity were seen until 1913, when an eruption was reported. Investigation could find no evidence the volcano was awakening, and it was determined that what had been mistaken for renewed activity had actually been a major landslide (possibly the one which formed the second arc to Rakata's cliff).

Examinations after 1930 of bathymetric charts made in 1919 show evidence of a bulge indicative of magma near the surface at the site that became Anak Krakatau.

The explosion has been theorized to be a source of inspiration for Edvard Munch's 1893 painting . The reddish sky in the background is the artist's memory of the effects of the powerful volcanic eruption of Krakatoa, which deeply tinted sunset skies red in parts of the Western hemisphere for months during 1883 and 1884, about a decade before Munch painted The Scream.

The Newbery Medal-winning 1947 young adult (YA) novel The Twenty-One Balloons, by William Pène du Bois, features the 1883 eruption of Krakatoa as a major plot point.

The 1966 television episode of The Time Tunnel titled "Crack of Doom" has Tony and Doug transported to Krakatoa on 26 August 1883, the day before the cataclysmic eruption.

The 1969 disaster film Krakatoa, East of Java is very loosely based on the 1883 eruption. The title is a notorious geographic error, as Krakatoa is west of Java; the producers wanted "East" instead, to suggest the "Far East."

The eruption is referenced in season two episode 11 of the anthology series Beyond Belief: Fact or Fiction, in a segment called "The Scoop".[citation needed ]

The 1883 eruption of Krakatoa contributes to the global cooling and subsequent dystopia seen in the 2018 video game .

The SpongeBob SquarePants episode "Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy V" references the eruption. When Squidward Tentacles becomes the superhero "Captain Magma", his catch-phrase is "Krakatoa!" followed by an eruption from his volcano-shaped helmet.

The ABC anthology series One Step Beyond episode "Eyewitness" portrays a journalist who somehow knew about the 1883 Krakatoa explosion as it happened. He wrote the story and his newspaper reported the eruption, including the death toll long before anyone knew it happened.

Scrooge McDuck witnesses and survives the 1883 Krakatoa eruption in the Don Rosa comic The Cowboy Captain of the Cutty Sark.

In Transformers: The Last Knight, Megatron is seen in a picture of it but was covered up by the order of the Witwiccans.

Informational notes

Citations

Bibliography

Cruijff, Henk J. & Koehler, R. B. (2006). "Question 15/05: Dutch Gunboat Berouw". Warship International. XLIII (2): 146-147. ISSN 0043-0374.

Dickins, Rosie; The Children's Book of Art (An introduction to famous paintings), Usborne Publishing Ltd., Usborne House, 83-85 Saffron Hill, London ISBN 978-0-439-88981-0 (2005)

Furneaux, Rupert; Krakatoa (1965) London, Secker and Warburg.

Self, Stephen; Rampino, Michael R. (1981). "The 1883 eruption of Krakatau". . 294 (5843): 699-704. Bibcode:1981Natur.294..699S. doi:10.1038/294699a0. S2CID 4340524.

Simkin, Tom, and Richard S. Fiske (editors); Krakatau, 1883 - the volcanic eruption and its effects (1983) Washington, D.C. : Smithsonian Institution Press. ISBN 0-87474-841-0

Verbeek, Rogier Diederik Marius (1884). "The Krakatoa eruption". Nature. 30 (757): 10-15. Bibcode:1884Natur..30...10V. doi:10.1038/030010a0.

Verbeek, Rogier Diederik Marius; Krakatau. Batavia, 1885, Internet Archive link

Winchester, Simon, Krakatoa: The Day the World Exploded: August 27, 1883, New York: Harper Collins (2003), ISBN 978-0-06-083859-1

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The 1883 eruption of Krakatoa ( Indonesian: Letusan Krakatau 1883) in the Sunda Strait began on 20 May 1883 and peaked on the late morning of Monday, 27 August 1883, when over 70% of the island of Krakatoa and its surrounding archipelago were destroyed as it collapsed into a caldera.

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Neil Armstrong

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WWII

Poland gets invaded by Nazi Germany On 1st Septemeber 1939, And by the Soviet on the 19th September

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some groups have lots of fans but bts was the most popular boy group 

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Coronavirus disease 2019
(COVID-19)

Other names

COVID, (the) coronavirus

Transmission and life-cycle of SARS-CoV-2 causing COVID-19.

Pronunciation

Specialty
Infectious disease

Symptoms
Fever, cough, fatigue, shortness of breath, vomiting, loss of taste or smell; some cases asymptomatic[2][3]

Complications

Pneumonia, viral sepsis, acute respiratory distress syndrome, kidney failure, cytokine release syndrome, respiratory failure, pulmonary fibrosis, pediatric multisystem inflammatory syndrome, chronic COVID syndrome

Usual onset

2-14 days (typically 5) from infection

Duration

5 days to 10+ months known

Causes

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2)

Diagnostic method

rRT-PCR testing, CT scan, Rapid antigen test

Prevention

Face coverings, quarantine, physical/ social distancing, ventilation, hand washing,[4][needs update ] vaccination[5]

Treatment
Symptomatic and supportive

Frequency

176,029,125[6] confirmed cases

Deaths

3,805,518[6]

Coronavirus disease 2019 ( COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China in December 2019. The disease has since spread worldwide, leading to an ongoing pandemic.

Symptoms of COVID-19 are variable, but often include fever, cough, headache, fatigue, breathing difficulties, and loss of smell and taste. Symptoms may begin one to fourteen days after exposure to the virus. At least a third of people who are infected do not develop noticeable symptoms. Of those people who develop noticeable symptoms enough to be classed as patients, most (81%) develop mild to moderate symptoms (up to mild pneumonia), while 14% develop severe symptoms ( dyspnea, hypoxia, or more than 50% lung involvement on imaging), and 5% suffer critical symptoms ( respiratory failure, shock, or multiorgan dysfunction). Older people are at a higher risk of developing severe symptoms. Some people continue to experience a range of effects ( long COVID) for months after recovery, and damage to organs has been observed. Multi-year studies are underway to further investigate the long-term effects of the disease.

Transmission of COVID-19 occurs when people are exposed to virus-containing respiratory droplets and airborne particles exhaled by an infected person. Those particles may be inhaled or may reach the mouth, nose, or eyes of a person through touching or direct deposition (i.e. being coughed on). The risk of infection is highest when people are in close proximity for a long time, but particles can be inhaled over longer distances, particularly indoors in poorly ventilated and crowded spaces. In those conditions small particles can remain suspended in the air for minutes to hours. Touching a contaminated surface or object may lead to infection although this does not contribute substantially to transmission. People who are infected can transmit the virus to another person up to two days before they themselves show symptoms, as can people who do not experience symptoms. People remain infectious for up to ten days after the onset of symptoms in moderate cases and up to twenty days in severe cases.

Several testing methods have been developed to diagnose the disease. The standard diagnostic method is by detection of the virus' nucleic acid by real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (rRT-PCR), transcription-mediated amplification (TMA), or by reverse transcription loop-mediated isothermal amplification (RT-LAMP) from a nasopharyngeal swab.

Preventive measures include physical or social distancing, quarantining, ventilation of indoor spaces, covering coughs and sneezes, hand washing, and keeping unwashed hands away from the face. The use of face masks or coverings has been recommended in public settings to minimize the risk of transmissions. Several vaccines have been developed and many countries have initiated mass vaccination campaigns.

Although work is underway to develop drugs that inhibit the virus, the primary treatment is symptomatic. Management involves the treatment of symptoms, supportive care, isolation, and experimental measures.

During the initial outbreak in Wuhan, the virus and disease were commonly referred to as "coronavirus" and "Wuhan coronavirus", with the disease sometimes called "Wuhan pneumonia". In the past, many diseases have been named after geographical locations, such as the Spanish flu, Middle East Respiratory Syndrome, and Zika virus. In January 2020, the WHO recommended 2019-nCov and 2019-nCoV acute respiratory disease as interim names for the virus and disease per 2015 guidance and international guidelines against using geographical locations (e.g. Wuhan, China), animal species, or groups of people in disease and virus names in part to prevent social stigma. The official names COVID-19 and SARS-CoV-2 were issued by the WHO on 11 February 2020. Tedros Adhanom explained: COfor corona, VIfor virus, Dfor disease and 19 for when the outbreak was first identified (31 December 20 19). The WHO additionally uses "the COVID-19 virus" and "the virus responsible for COVID-19" in public communications.

Signs and symptoms

COVID-19 is caused by infection with the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) virus strain.

Transmission

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus2 (SARS-CoV-2) is a novel severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus. It was first isolated from three people with pneumonia connected to the cluster of acute respiratory illness cases in Wuhan. All structural features of the novel SARS-CoV-2 virus particle occur in related coronaviruses in nature.

SARS-CoV-2 is closely related to the original SARS-CoV. It is thought to have an animal ( zoonotic) origin. Genetic analysis has revealed that the coronavirus genetically clusters with the genus Betacoronavirus, in subgenus Sarbecovirus (lineage B) together with two bat-derived strains. It is 96% identical at the whole genome level to other bat coronavirus samples (BatCov RaTG13). The structural proteins of SARS-CoV-2 include membrane glycoprotein (M), envelope protein (E), nucleocapsid protein (N), and the spike protein (S). The M protein of SARS-CoV-2 is about 98% similar to the M protein of bat SARS-CoV, maintains around 98% homology with pangolin SARS-CoV, and has 90% homology with the M protein of SARS-CoV; whereas, the similarity is only around 38% with the M protein of MERS-CoV. The structure of the M protein resembles the sugar transporter SemiSWEET.

SARS-CoV-2 variants

The many thousands of SARS-CoV-2 variants are grouped into either clades or lineages. No standard nomenclature exists. Nextstrain divides the variants into five clades (19A, 19B, 20A, 20B, and 20C), while GISAID divides them into seven (L, O, V, S, G, GH, and GR). The Pango tool groups variants into lineages, with many circulating lineages being classed under the B.1 lineage.

Several notable variants of SARS-CoV-2 emerged in late 2020. Cluster 5 emerged among minks and mink farmers in Denmark. After strict quarantines and a mink euthanasia campaign, it is believed to have been eradicated.

As of January 2021, three newer variants of SARS-CoV-2 are spreading among global populations, including the UK Variant (referred to as B.1.1.7) first found in London and Kent, a variant discovered in South Africa (referred to as B.1.351), and a variant discovered in Brazil (referred to as P.1).

Pathophysiology

COVID-19 can affect the upper respiratory tract (sinuses, nose, and throat) and the lower respiratory tract (windpipe and lungs). The lungs are the organs most affected by COVID-19 because the virus accesses host cells via the receptor for the enzyme angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2), which is most abundant on the surface of type II alveolar cells of the lungs. The virus uses a special surface glycoprotein called a "spike" ( peplomer) to connect to the ACE2 receptor and enter the host cell.

Whether SARS-CoV-2 is able to invade the nervous system remains unknown however it is clear that many people with COVID-19 exhibit neurological or mental health issues. The virus is not detected in the CNS of the majority of COVID-19 people with neurological issues. However, SARS-CoV-2 has been detected at low levels in the brains of those who have died from COVID-19, but these results need to be confirmed. Loss of smell results from infection of the support cells of the olfactory epithelium, with subsequent damage to the olfactory neurons. SARS-CoV-2 could cause respiratory failure through affecting the brain stem as other coronaviruses have been found to invade the CNS. While virus has been detected in cerebrospinal fluid of autopsies, the exact mechanism by which it invades the CNS remains unclear and may first involve invasion of peripheral nerves given the low levels of ACE2 in the brain. The virus may also enter the bloodstream from the lungs and cross the blood-brain barrier to gain access to the CNS, possibly within an infected white blood cell.

The virus also affects gastrointestinal organs as ACE2 is abundantly expressed in the glandular cells of gastric, duodenal and rectal epithelium as well as endothelial cells and enterocytes of the small intestine.

The virus can cause acute myocardial injury and chronic damage to the cardiovascular system. An acute cardiac injury was found in 12% of infected people admitted to the hospital in Wuhan, China, and is more frequent in severe disease. Rates of cardiovascular symptoms are high, owing to the systemic inflammatory response and immune system disorders during disease progression, but acute myocardial injuries may also be related to ACE2 receptors in the heart. ACE2 receptors are highly expressed in the heart and are involved in heart function. A high incidence of thrombosis and venous thromboembolism have been found people transferred to Intensive care unit (ICU) with COVID-19 infections, and may be related to poor prognosis. Blood vessel dysfunction and clot formation (as suggested by high D-dimer levels caused by blood clots) are thought to play a significant role in mortality, incidences of clots leading to pulmonary embolisms, and ischaemic events within the brain have been noted as complications leading to death in people infected with SARS-CoV-2. Infection appears to set off a chain of vasoconstrictive responses within the body, constriction of blood vessels within the pulmonary circulation has also been posited as a mechanism in which oxygenation decreases alongside the presentation of viral pneumonia. Furthermore, microvascular blood vessel damage has been reported in a small number of tissue samples of the brains - without detected SARS-CoV-2 - and the olfactory bulbs from those who have died from COVID-19.

Immunopathology

Although SARS-CoV-2 has a tropism for ACE2-expressing epithelial cells of the respiratory tract, people with severe COVID-19 have symptoms of systemic hyperinflammation. Clinical laboratory findings of elevated IL‑2, IL‑7, IL‑6, granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM‑CSF), interferon gamma-induced protein10 (IP‑10), monocyte chemoattractant protein1 (MCP1), macrophage inflammatory protein 1‑alpha (MIP‑1‑alpha), and tumour necrosis factor (TNF‑α) indicative of cytokine release syndrome (CRS) suggest an underlying immunopathology.

Additionally, people with COVID-19 and acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) have classical serum biomarkers of CRS, including elevated C-reactive protein (CRP), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), D-dimer, and ferritin.

Systemic inflammation results in vasodilation, allowing inflammatory lymphocytic and monocytic infiltration of the lung and the heart. In particular, pathogenic GM-CSF-secreting T cells were shown to correlate with the recruitment of inflammatory IL-6-secreting monocytes and severe lung pathology in people with COVID-19. Lymphocytic infiltrates have also been reported at autopsy.

Viral and host factors

Virus proteins

Multiple viral and host factors affect the pathogenesis of the virus. The S-protein, otherwise known as the spike protein, is the viral component that attaches to the host receptor via the ACE2 receptors. It includes two subunits: S1 and S2. S1 determines the virus-host range and cellular tropism via the receptor-binding domain. S2 mediates the membrane fusion of the virus to its potential cell host via the H1 and HR2, which are heptad repeat regions. Studies have shown that S1 domain induced IgG and IgA antibody levels at a much higher capacity. It is the focus spike proteins expression that are involved in many effective COVID-19 vaccines.

Host factors

Human angiotensin converting enzyme 2 (hACE2) is the host factor that SARS-COV2 virus targets causing COVID-19. Theoretically the usage of angiotensin receptor blockers (ARB) and ACE inhibitors upregulating ACE2 expression might increase morbidity with COVID-19, though animal data suggest some potential protective effect of ARB. However no clinical studies have proven susceptibility or outcomes. Until further data is available, guidelines and recommendations for hypertensive patients remain.

Among healthy adults not exposed to SARS-CoV-2, about 35% have CD4+ T cells that recognize the SARS-CoV-2 S protein (particularly the S2 subunit) and about 50% react to other proteins of the virus, suggesting cross-reactivity from previous common colds caused by other coronaviruses.

Host cytokine response

The severity of the inflammation can be attributed to the severity of what is known as the cytokine storm. Levels of interleukin1B, interferon-gamma, interferon-inducible protein 10, and monocyte chemoattractant protein1 were all associated with COVID-19 disease severity. Treatment has been proposed to combat the cytokine storm as it remains to be one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality in COVID-19 disease.

A cytokine storm is due to an acute hyperinflammatory response that is responsible for clinical illness in an array of diseases but in COVID-19, it is related to worse prognosis and increased fatality. The storm causes acute respiratory distress syndrome, blood clotting events such as strokes, myocardial infarction, encephalitis, acute kidney injury, and vasculitis. The production of IL-1, IL-2, IL-6, TNF-alpha, and interferon-gamma, all crucial components of normal immune responses, inadvertently become the causes of a cytokine storm. The cells of the central nervous system, the microglia, neurons, and astrocytes, are also involved in the release of pro-inflammatory cytokines affecting the nervous system, and effects of cytokine storms toward the CNS are not uncommon.

Pregnancy response

Nowadays, there are many unknowns for pregnant women during the COVID-19 pandemic. Given that they are prone to suffering from complications and severe disease infection with other types of coronaviruses, they have been identified as a vulnerable group and advised to take supplementary preventive measures.

Physiological responses to pregnancy can include:

Immunological: The immunological response to COVID-19, like other viruses, depends on a working immune system. It adapts during pregnancy to allow the development of the fetus whose genetic load is only partially shared with their mother, leading to a different immunological reaction to infections during the course of pregnancy.

Respiratory: Many factors can make pregnant women more vulnerable to hard respiratory infections. One of them is the total reduction of the lungs' capacity and inability to clear secretions.

Coagulation: During pregnancy, there are higher levels of circulating coagulation factors, and the pathogenesis of SARS-CoV-2 infection can be implicated. The thromboembolic events with associated mortality are a risk for pregnant women.

However, from the evidence base, it is difficult to conclude whether pregnant women are at increased risk of grave consequences of this virus.

In addition to the above, other clinical studies have proved that SARS-CoV-2 can affect the period of pregnancy in different ways. On the one hand, there is little evidence of its impact up to 12 weeks gestation. On the other hand, COVID-19 infection may cause increased rates of unfavorable outcomes in the course of the pregnancy. Some examples of these could be fetal growth restriction, preterm birth, and perinatal mortality, which refers to the fetal death past 22 or 28 completed weeks of pregnancy as well as the death among live-born children up to seven completed days of life.

COVID-19 can provisionally be diagnosed on the basis of symptoms and confirmed using reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) or other nucleic acid testing of infected secretions. Along with laboratory testing, chest CT scans may be helpful to diagnose COVID-19 in individuals with a high clinical suspicion of infection. Detection of a past infection is possible with serological tests, which detect antibodies produced by the body in response to the infection.

Viral testing

The standard methods of testing for presence of SARS-CoV-2 are nucleic acid tests, which detects the presence of viral RNA fragments. As these tests detect RNA but not infectious virus, its "ability to determine duration of infectivity of patients is limited." The test is typically done on respiratory samples obtained by a nasopharyngeal swab; however, a nasal swab or sputum sample may also be used. Results are generally available within hours. The WHO has published several testing protocols for the disease.

The University of Oxford's CEBM has pointed to mounting evidence that "a good proportion of 'new' mild cases and people re-testing positives after quarantine or discharge from hospital are not infectious, but are simply clearing harmless virus particles which their immune system has efficiently dealt with" and have called for "an international effort to standardize and periodically calibrate testing" On 7September, the UK government issued "guidance for procedures to be implemented in laboratories to provide assurance of positive SARS-CoV-2 RNA results during periods of low prevalence, when there is a reduction in the predictive value of positive test results".

Chest CT scans may be helpful to diagnose COVID-19 in individuals with a high clinical suspicion of infection but are not recommended for routine screening. Bilateral multilobar ground-glass opacities with a peripheral, asymmetric, and posterior distribution are common in early infection. Subpleural dominance, crazy paving (lobular septal thickening with variable alveolar filling), and consolidation may appear as the disease progresses. Characteristic imaging features on chest radiographs and computed tomography (CT) of people who are symptomatic include asymmetric peripheral ground-glass opacities without pleural effusions.

Many groups have created COVID-19 datasets that include imagery such as the Italian Radiological Society which has compiled an international online database of imaging findings for confirmed cases. Due to overlap with other infections such as adenovirus, imaging without confirmation by rRT-PCR is of limited specificity in identifying COVID-19. A large study in China compared chest CT results to PCR and demonstrated that though imaging is less specific for the infection, it is faster and more sensitive.

The main pathological findings at autopsy are:

Prevention

The first COVID-19 vaccine was granted regulatory approval on 2December by the UK medicines regulator MHRA. It was evaluated for emergency use authorization (EUA) status by the US FDA, and in several other countries. Initially, the US National Institutes of Health guidelines do not recommend any medication for prevention of COVID-19, before or after exposure to the SARS-CoV-2 virus, outside the setting of a clinical trial. Without a vaccine, other prophylactic measures, or effective treatments, a key part of managing COVID-19 is trying to decrease and delay the epidemic peak, known as "flattening the curve". This is done by slowing the infection rate to decrease the risk of health services being overwhelmed, allowing for better treatment of active cases, and delaying additional cases until effective treatments or a vaccine become available.

Face masks and respiratory hygiene

The WHO and the US CDC recommend individuals wear non-medical face coverings in public settings where there is an increased risk of transmission and where social distancing measures are difficult to maintain. This recommendation is meant to reduce the spread of the disease by asymptomatic and pre-symptomatic individuals and is complementary to established preventive measures such as social distancing. Face coverings limit the volume and travel distance of expiratory droplets dispersed when talking, breathing, and coughing. A face covering without vents or holes will also filter out particles containing the virus from inhaled and exhaled air, reducing the chances of infection. But, if the mask include an exhalation valve, a wearer that is infected (maybe without having noticed that, and asymptomatic) would transmit the virus outwards through it, despite any certification they can have. So the masks with exhalation valve are not for the infected wearers, and are not reliable to stop the pandemic in a large scale. Many countries and local jurisdictions encourage or mandate the use of face masks or cloth face coverings by members of the public to limit the spread of the virus.

Masks are also strongly recommended for those who may have been infected and those taking care of someone who may have the disease. When not wearing a mask, the CDC recommends covering the mouth and nose with a tissue when coughing or sneezing and recommends using the inside of the elbow if no tissue is available. Proper hand hygiene after any cough or sneeze is encouraged. Healthcare professionals interacting directly with people who have COVID-19 are advised to use respirators at least as protective as NIOSH-certified N95 or equivalent, in addition to other personal protective equipment.

Avoiding crowded indoor spaces and ventilation

The CDC recommends that crowded indoor spaces should be avoided. When indoors, increasing the rate of air change, decreasing recirculation of air and increasing the use of outdoor air can reduce transmission. The WHO recommends ventilation and air filtration in public spaces to help clear out infectious aerosols.

Exhaled respiratory particles can build-up within enclosed spaces with inadequate ventilation. The risk of COVID-19 infection increases especially in spaces where people engage in physical exertion or raise their voice (e.g., exercising, shouting, singing) as this increases exhalation of respiratory droplets. Prolonged exposure to these conditions, typically more than 15 minutes, leads to higher risk of infection.

Hand-washing and hygiene

Thorough hand hygiene after any cough or sneeze is required. The WHO also recommends that individuals wash hands often with soap and water for at least twenty seconds, especially after going to the toilet or when hands are visibly dirty, before eating and after blowing one's nose. When soap and water are not available, the CDC recommends using an alcohol-based hand sanitiser with at least 60% alcohol. For areas where commercial hand sanitisers are not readily available, the WHO provides two formulations for local production. In these formulations, the antimicrobial activity arises from ethanol or isopropanol. Hydrogen peroxide is used to help eliminate bacterial spores in the alcohol; it is "not an active substance for hand antisepsis." Glycerol is added as a humectant.

Social distancing

Surface cleaning

After being expelled from the body, coronaviruses can survive on surfaces for hours to days. If a person touches the dirty surface, they may deposit the virus at the eyes, nose, or mouth where it can enter the body and cause infection. Evidence indicates that contact with infected surfaces is not the main driver of COVID-19, leading to recommendations for optimised disinfection procedures to avoid issues such as the increase of antimicrobial resistance through the use of inappropriate cleaning products and processes. Deep cleaning and other surface sanitation has been criticized as hygiene theater, giving a false sense of security against something primarily spread through the air.

The amount of time that the virus can survive depends significantly on the type of surface, the temperature, and the humidity. Coronaviruses die very quickly when exposed to the UV light in sunlight. Like other enveloped viruses, SARS-CoV-2 survives longest when the temperature is at room temperature or lower, and when the relative humidity is low (<50%).

On many surfaces, including as glass, some types of plastic, stainless steel, and skin, the virus can remain infective for several days indoors at room temperature, or even about a week under ideal conditions. On some surfaces, including cotton fabric and copper, the virus usually dies after a few hours. The virus dies faster on porous surfaces than on non-porous surfaces due to capillary action within pores and faster aerosol droplet evaporation. However, of the many surfaces tested, two with the longest survival times are N95 respirator masks and surgical masks, both of which are considered porous surfaces.

The CDC says that in most situations, cleaning surfaces with soap or detergent, not disinfecting, is enough to reduce risk of transmission. The CDC recommends that if a COVID-19 case is suspected or confirmed at a facility such as an office or day care, all areas such as offices, bathrooms, common areas, shared electronic equipment like tablets, touch screens, keyboards, remote controls, and ATM machines used by the ill persons should be disinfected. Surfaces may be decontaminated with 62-71 percent ethanol, 50-100 percent isopropanol, 0.1 percent sodium hypochlorite, 0.5 percent hydrogen peroxide, and 0.2-7.5 percent povidone-iodine. Other solutions, such as benzalkonium chloride and chlorhexidine gluconate, are less effective. Ultraviolet germicidal irradiation may also be used. A datasheet comprising the authorised substances to disinfection in the food industry (including suspension or surface tested, kind of surface, use dilution, disinfectant and inocuylum volumes) can be seen in the supplementary material of.

Self-isolation

Self-isolation at home has been recommended for those diagnosed with COVID-19 and those who suspect they have been infected. Health agencies have issued detailed instructions for proper self-isolation. Many governments have mandated or recommended self-quarantine for entire populations. The strongest self-quarantine instructions have been issued to those in high-risk groups. Those who may have been exposed to someone with COVID-19 and those who have recently travelled to a country or region with the widespread transmission have been advised to self-quarantine for 14 days from the time of last possible exposure.

Healthy diet and lifestyle

Consistently meeting scientific guidelines of 150+ minutes per week of exercise or similar physical activity was shown to be associated with a smaller risk of hospitalisation and death due to COVID-19, even when considering likely risk factors such as elevated BMI.

As of March 2021, there is no evidence that vitamin D status has any relationship with COVID-19 health outcomes. The largest clinical trial on the subject, with over 6 000 participants and a dosage regime near the RDI, is set to conclude in July 2021.

International travel-related control measures

The severity of COVID-19 varies. The disease may take a mild course with few or no symptoms, resembling other common upper respiratory diseases such as the common cold. In 3-4% of cases (7.4% for those over age 65) symptoms are severe enough to cause hospitalization. Mild cases typically recover within two weeks, while those with severe or critical diseases may take three to six weeks to recover. Among those who have died, the time from symptom onset to death has ranged from two to eight weeks. The Italian Istituto Superiore di Sanità reported that the median time between the onset of symptoms and death was twelve days, with seven being hospitalised. However, people transferred to an ICU had a median time of ten days between hospitalisation and death. Prolonged prothrombin time and elevated C-reactive protein levels on admission to the hospital are associated with severe course of COVID-19 and with a transfer to ICU.

Some early studies suggest 10% to 20% of people with COVID-19 will experience symptoms lasting longer than a month. A majority of those who were admitted to hospital with severe disease report long-term problems including fatigue and shortness of breath. On 30 October 2020 WHO chief Tedros Adhanom warned that "to a significant number of people, the COVID virus poses a range of serious long-term effects." He has described the vast spectrum of COVID-19 symptoms that fluctuate over time as "really concerning". They range from fatigue, a cough and shortness of breath, to inflammation and injury of major organs - including the lungs and heart, and also neurological and psychologic effects. Symptoms often overlap and can affect any system in the body. Infected people have reported cyclical bouts of fatigue, headaches, months of complete exhaustion, mood swings, and other symptoms. Tedros has concluded that therefore herd immunity is "morally unconscionable and unfeasible".

According to scientific reviews smokers are more likely to require intensive care or die compared to non-smokers, air pollution is similarly associated with risk factors, and pre-existing heart and lung diseases and also obesity contributes to an increased health risk of COVID-19.

Genetics also plays an important role in the ability to fight off the disease. For instance, those that do not produce detectable type I interferons or produce auto-antibodies against these may get much sicker from COVID-19. Genetic screening is able to detect interferon effector genes.

Pregnant women may be at higher risk of severe COVID-19 infection based on data from other similar viruses, like SARS and MERS, but data for COVID-19 is lacking.

While very young children have experienced lower rates of infection, older children have a rate of infection that is similar to the population as a whole. Children are likely to have milder symptoms and are at lower risk of severe disease than adults. The CDC reports that in the US roughly a third of hospitalized children were admitted to the ICU, while a European multinational study of hospitalized children from June 2020 found that about 8% of children admitted to a hospital needed intensive care. Four of the 582 children (0.7%) in the European study died, but the actual mortality rate could be "substantially lower" since milder cases that did not seek medical help were not included in the study.

Complications

Complications may include pneumonia, acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), multi-organ failure, septic shock, and death. Cardiovascular complications may include heart failure, arrhythmias (including atrial fibrillation), heart inflammation, and thrombosis, particularly venous thromboembolism. Approximately 20-30% of people who present with COVID-19 have elevated liver enzymes, reflecting liver injury.

Neurologic manifestations include seizure, stroke, encephalitis, and Guillain-Barré syndrome (which includes loss of motor functions). Following the infection, children may develop paediatric multisystem inflammatory syndrome, which has symptoms similar to Kawasaki disease, which can be fatal. In very rare cases, acute encephalopathy can occur, and it can be considered in those who have been diagnosed with COVID-19 and have an altered mental status.

In the case of pregnant women, it is important to note that, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, pregnant women are at increased risk of becoming seriously ill from COVID-19. This is because pregnant women with COVID-19 appear to be more likely to develop respiratory and obstetric complications that can lead to miscarriage, premature delivery and intrauterine growth restriction.

Longer-term effects

Some early studies suggest that ten to twenty percent of people with COVID-19 will experience symptoms lasting longer than a month. A majority of those who were admitted to hospital with severe disease report long-term problems, including fatigue and shortness of breath. About 5-10% of patients admitted to hospital progress to severe or critical disease, including pneumonia and acute respiratory failure.

People with advanced age, severe disease, prolonged ICU stays, or who smoke are more likely to have long-lasting effects, including pulmonary fibrosis. Overall, approximately one-third of those investigated after four weeks will have findings of pulmonary fibrosis or reduced lung function as measured by DLCO, even in asymptomatic people, but with the suggestion of continuing improvement with the passing of more time.

The immune response by humans to CoV-2 virus occurs as a combination of the cell-mediated immunity and antibody production, just as with most other infections. Since SARS-CoV-2 has been in the human population only since December 2019, it remains unknown if the immunity is long-lasting in people who recover from the disease. The presence of neutralizing antibodies in blood strongly correlates with protection from infection, but the level of neutralizing antibody declines with time. Those with asymptomatic or mild disease had undetectable levels of neutralizing antibody two months after infection. In another study, the level of neutralizing antibodies fell four-fold one to four months after the onset of symptoms. However, the lack of antibodies in the blood does not mean antibodies will not be rapidly produced upon reexposure to SARS-CoV-2. Memory B cells specific for the spike and nucleocapsid proteins of SARS-CoV-2 last for at least six months after the appearance of symptoms.

Nevertheless, 15 cases of reinfection with SARS-CoV-2 have been reported using stringent CDC criteria requiring identification of a different variant from the second infection. There are likely to be many more people who have been reinfected with the virus. Herd immunity will not eliminate the virus if reinfection is common. Some other coronaviruses circulating in people are capable of reinfection after roughly a year. Nonetheless, on 3March 2021, scientists reported that a much more contagious COVID-19 variant, Lineage P.1, first detected in Japan, and subsequently found in Brazil, as well as in several places in the United States, may be associated with COVID-19 disease reinfection after recovery from an earlier COVID-19 infection.

The mortality rate reflects the number of deaths within a specific demographic group divided by the population of that demographic group. Consequently, the mortality rate reflects the prevalence as well as the severity of the disease within a given population. Mortality rates are highly correlated to age, with relatively low rates for young people and relatively high rates among the elderly. In fact, one relevant factor of mortality rates is the age structure of the countries' populations. For example, the case fatality rate for COVID-19 is lower in India than in the US since India's younger population represents a larger percentage than in the US.

The case fatality rate (CFR) reflects the number of deaths divided by the number of diagnosed cases within a given time interval. Based on Johns Hopkins University statistics, the global death-to-case ratio is 2.2% (3,805,518/176,029,125) as of 14 June 2021. The number varies by region. The CFR may not reflect the true severity of the disease, because some infected individuals remain asymptomatic or experience only mild symptoms, and hence such infections may not be included in official case reports. Moreover, the CFR may vary markedly over time and across locations due to the availability of live virus tests.

Total confirmed cases over time

Total confirmed cases of COVID-19 per million people[287]

Total confirmed deaths due to COVID-19 per million people[288]

Infection fatality rate

A key metric in gauging the severity of COVID-19 is the infection fatality rate (IFR), also referred to as the infection fatality ratio or infection fatality risk. This metric is calculated by dividing the total number of deaths from the disease by the total number of infected individuals; hence, in contrast to the CFR, the IFR incorporates asymptomatic and undiagnosed infections as well as reported cases.

An analysis of those IFR rates indicates that COVID-19 is hazardous not only for the elderly but also for middle-aged adults, for whom a fatal COVID-19 infection is two orders of magnitude more likely than the annualized risk of a fatal automobile accident and far more dangerous than seasonal influenza.

Earlier estimates of IFR

At an early stage of the pandemic, the World Health Organization reported estimates of IFR between 0.3% and 1%. On 2July, The WHO's chief scientist reported that the average IFR estimate presented at a two-day WHO expert forum was about 0.6%. In August, the WHO found that studies incorporating data from broad serology testing in Europe showed IFR estimates converging at approximately 0.5-1%. Firm lower limits of IFRs have been established in a number of locations such as New York City and Bergamo in Italy since the IFR cannot be less than the population fatality rate. As of 10 July, in New York City, with a population of 8.4 million, 23,377 individuals (18,758 confirmed and 4,619 probable) have died with COVID-19 (0.3% of the population). Antibody testing in New York City suggested an IFR of ~0.9%, and ~1.4%. In Bergamo province, 0.6% of the population has died. In September 2020 the U.S. Center for Disease Control & Prevention reported preliminary estimates of age-specific IFRs for public health planning purposes.

Sex differences

Percentage of infected people who are hospitalized

Percentage of hospitalized people who go to Intensive Care Unit

Percent of hospitalized people who die

Percent of infected people who die - infection fatality rate (IFR)

Numbers in parentheses are 95% credible intervals for the estimates.

COVID-19 case fatality rates are higher among men than women in most countries. However, in a few countries like India, Nepal, Vietnam, and Slovenia the fatality cases are higher in women than men. Globally, men are more likely to be admitted to the ICU and more likely to die. One meta-analysis found that globally, men were more likely to get COVID-19 than women; there were approximately 55 men and 45 women per 100 infections ( CI: 51.43-56.58).

The Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention reported the death rate was 2.8% for men and 1.7% for women. Later reviews in June 2020 indicated that there is no significant difference in susceptibility or in CFR between genders. One review acknowledges the different mortality rates in Chinese men, suggesting that it may be attributable to lifestyle choices such as smoking and drinking alcohol rather than genetic factors. Smoking, which in some countries like China is mainly a male activity, is a habit that contributes to increasing significantly the case fatality rates among men. Sex-based immunological differences, lesser prevalence of smoking in women and men developing co-morbid conditions such as hypertension at a younger age than women could have contributed to the higher mortality in men. In Europe, 57% of the infected people were men and 72% of those died with COVID-19 were men. As of April 2020, the US government is not tracking sex-related data of COVID-19 infections. Research has shown that viral illnesses like Ebola, HIV, influenza and SARS affect men and women differently.

Ethnic differences

In the US, a greater proportion of deaths due to COVID-19 have occurred among African Americans and other minority groups. Structural factors that prevent them from practicing social distancing include their concentration in crowded substandard housing and in "essential" occupations such as retail grocery workers, public transit employees, health-care workers and custodial staff. Greater prevalence of lacking health insurance and care of underlying conditions such as diabetes, hypertension, and heart disease also increase their risk of death. Similar issues affect Native American and Latino communities. On the one hand, in the Dominican Republic there is a clear example of both gender and ethnic inequality. In this Latin American territory, there is great inequality and precariousness that especially affects Dominican women, with greater emphasis on those of Haitian descent. According to a US health policy non-profit, 34% of American Indian and Alaska Native People (AIAN) non-elderly adults are at risk of serious illness compared to 21% of white non-elderly adults. The source attributes it to disproportionately high rates of many health conditions that may put them at higher risk as well as living conditions like lack of access to clean water. Leaders have called for efforts to research and address the disparities. In the U.K., a greater proportion of deaths due to COVID-19 have occurred in those of a Black, Asian, and other ethnic minority background. More severe impacts upon victims including the relative incidence of the necessity of hospitalization requirements, and vulnerability to the disease has been associated via DNA analysis to be expressed in genetic variants at chromosomal region 3, features that are associated with European Neanderthal heritage. That structure imposes greater risks that those affected will develop a more severe form of the disease. The findings are from Professor Svante Pääbo and researchers he leads at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology and the Karolinska Institutet. This admixture of modern human and Neanderthal genes is estimated to have occurred roughly between 50,000 and 60,000 years ago in Southern Europe.

Comorbidities

Biological factors (immune response) and the general behaviour (habits) can strongly determine the consequences of COVID-19. Most of those who die of COVID-19 have pre-existing (underlying) conditions, including hypertension, diabetes mellitus, and cardiovascular disease. According to March data from the United States, 89% of those hospitalised had preexisting conditions. The Italian Istituto Superiore di Sanità reported that out of 8.8% of deaths where medical charts were available, 96.1% of people had at least one comorbidity with the average person having 3.4 diseases. According to this report the most common comorbidities are hypertension (66% of deaths), type 2 diabetes (29.8% of deaths), Ischemic Heart Disease (27.6% of deaths), atrial fibrillation (23.1% of deaths) and chronic renal failure (20.2% of deaths).

Most critical respiratory comorbidities according to the CDC, are: moderate or severe asthma, pre-existing COPD, pulmonary fibrosis, cystic fibrosis. Evidence stemming from meta-analysis of several smaller research papers also suggests that smoking can be associated with worse outcomes. When someone with existing respiratory problems is infected with COVID-19, they might be at greater risk for severe symptoms. COVID-19 also poses a greater risk to people who misuse opioids and methamphetamines, insofar as their drug use may have caused lung damage.

The virus is thought to be natural and of an animal origin, through spillover infection. There are several theories about where the first case (the so-called patient zero) originated and investigations into the origin of the pandemic are ongoing. Phylogenetics estimates that SARS-CoV-2 arose in October or November 2019. Although one Italian study suggests it was present there as early as September 2019. Evidence suggests that it descends from a coronavirus that infects wild bats, and spread to humans through an intermediary wildlife host. The possibility that the virus was accidentally released from a laboratory is also under increasingly active consideration.

The first confirmed human infections were in Wuhan, Hubei, China. A study of the first 41 cases of confirmed COVID-19, published in January 2020 in The Lancet, reported the earliest date of onset of symptoms as 1December 2019. Official publications from the WHO reported the earliest onset of symptoms as 8December 2019. Human-to-human transmission was confirmed by the WHO and Chinese authorities by 20 January 2020. According to official Chinese sources, these were mostly linked to the Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market, which also sold live animals. In May 2020 George Gao, the director of the CDC, said animal samples collected from the seafood market had tested negative for the virus, indicating that the market was the site of an early superspreading event, but that it was not the site of the initial outbreak. Traces of the virus have been found in wastewater samples that were collected in Milan and Turin, Italy, on 18 December 2019.

By December 2019, the spread of infection was almost entirely driven by human-to-human transmission. The number of coronavirus cases in Hubei gradually increased, reaching sixty by 20 December, and at least 266 by 31 December. On 24 December, Wuhan Central Hospital sent a bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BAL) sample from an unresolved clinical case to sequencing company Vision Medicals. On 27 and 28 December, Vision Medicals informed the Wuhan Central Hospital and the Chinese CDC of the results of the test, showing a new coronavirus. A pneumonia cluster of unknown cause was observed on 26 December and treated by the doctor Zhang Jixian in Hubei Provincial Hospital, who informed the Wuhan Jianghan CDC on 27 December. On 30 December, a test report addressed to Wuhan Central Hospital, from company CapitalBio Medlab, stated an erroneous positive result for SARS, causing a group of doctors at Wuhan Central Hospital to alert their colleagues and relevant hospital authorities of the result. The Wuhan Municipal Health Commission issued a notice to various medical institutions on "the treatment of pneumonia of unknown cause" that same evening. Eight of these doctors, including Li Wenliang (punished on 3January), were later admonished by the police for spreading false rumours and another, Ai Fen, was reprimanded by her superiors for raising the alarm.

The Wuhan Municipal Health Commission made the first public announcement of a pneumonia outbreak of unknown cause on 31 December, confirming 27 cases - enough to trigger an investigation.

During the early stages of the outbreak, the number of cases doubled approximately every seven and a half days. In early and mid-January 2020, the virus spread to other Chinese provinces, helped by the Chinese New Year migration and Wuhan being a transport hub and major rail interchange. On 20 January, China reported nearly 140 new cases in one day, including two people in Beijing and one in Shenzhen. Later official data shows 6,174 people had already developed symptoms by then, and more may have been infected. A report in The Lancet on 24 January indicated human transmission, strongly recommended personal protective equipment for health workers, and said testing for the virus was essential due to its "pandemic potential". On 30 January, the WHO declared the coronavirus a Public Health Emergency of International Concern. By this time, the outbreak spread by a factor of 100 to 200 times.

Italy had its first confirmed cases on 31 January 2020, two tourists from China. Italy overtook China as the country with the most deaths on 19 March 2020 . By 26 March the United States had overtaken China and Italy with the highest number of confirmed cases in the world. Research on coronavirus genomes indicates the majority of COVID-19 cases in New York came from European travellers, rather than directly from China or any other Asian country. Retesting of prior samples found a person in France who had the virus on 27 December 2019, and a person in the United States who died from the disease on 6February 2020.

Misinformation

After the initial outbreak of COVID-19, misinformation and disinformation regarding the origin, scale, prevention, treatment, and other aspects of the disease rapidly spread online.

Other animals

Humans appear to be capable of spreading the virus to some other animals, a type of disease transmission referred to as zooanthroponosis.

Some pets, especially cats and ferrets, can catch this virus from infected humans. Symptoms in cats include respiratory (such as a cough) and digestive symptoms. Cats can spread the virus to other cats, and may be able to spread the virus to humans, but cat-to-human transmission of SARS-CoV-2 has not been proven. Compared to cats, dogs are less susceptible to this infection. Behaviors which increase the risk of transmission include kissing, licking, and petting the animal.

The virus does not appear to be able to infect pigs, ducks, or chickens at all. Mice, rats, and rabbits, if they can be infected at all, are unlikely to be involved in spreading the virus.

Tigers and lions in zoos have become infected as a result of contact with infected humans. As expected, monkeys and great ape species such as orangutans can also be infected with the COVID-19 virus.

Minks, which are in the same family as ferrets, have been infected. Minks may be asymptomatic, and can also spread the virus to humans. Multiple countries have identified infected animals in mink farms. Denmark, a major producer of mink pelts, ordered the slaughter of all minks over fears of viral mutations. A vaccine for mink and other animals is being researched.

International research on vaccines and medicines in COVID-19 is underway by government organisations, academic groups, and industry researchers. The CDC has classified it to require a BSL3 grade laboratory. There has been a great deal of COVID-19 research, involving accelerated research processes and publishing shortcuts to meet the global demand.

As of December 2020, hundreds of clinical trials have been undertaken, with research happening on every continent except Antarctica. As of November 2020, more than 200 possible treatments had been studied in humans so far.

Transmission and prevention research

Modelling research has been conducted with several objectives, including predictions of the dynamics of transmission, diagnosis and prognosis of infection, estimation of the impact of interventions, or allocation of resources. Modelling studies are mostly based on epidemiological models, estimating the number of infected people over time under given conditions. Several other types of models have been developed and used during the COVID-19 including computational fluid dynamics models to study the flow physics of COVID-19, retrofits of crowd movement models to study occupant exposure, mobility-data based models to investigate transmission, or the use of macroeconomic models to assess the economic impact of the pandemic. Further, conceptual frameworks from crisis management research have been applied to better understand the effects of COVID-19 on organizations worldwide.

Treatment-related research

Repurposed antiviral drugs make up most of the research into COVID-19 treatments. Other candidates in trials include vasodilators, corticosteroids, immune therapies, lipoic acid, bevacizumab, and recombinant angiotensin-converting enzyme 2.

In March 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) initiated the Solidarity trial to assess the treatment effects of some promising drugs: an experimental drug called remdesivir; anti-malarial drugs chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine; two anti-HIV drugs, lopinavir/ritonavir; and interferon-beta. More than 300 active clinical trials are underway as of April 2020.

Research on the antimalarial drugs hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine showed that they were ineffective at best, and that they may reduce the antiviral activity of remdesivir. By May 2020, France, Italy, and Belgium had banned the use of hydroxychloroquine as a COVID-19 treatment.

In June, initial results from the randomised RECOVERY Trial in the United Kingdom showed that dexamethasone reduced mortality by one third for people who are critically ill on ventilators and one fifth for those receiving supplemental oxygen. Because this is a well-tested and widely available treatment, it was welcomed by the WHO, which is in the process of updating treatment guidelines to include dexamethasone and other steroids. Based on those preliminary results, dexamethasone treatment has been recommended by the NIH for patients with COVID-19 who are mechanically ventilated or who require supplemental oxygen but not in patients with COVID-19 who do not require supplemental oxygen.

In September 2020, the WHO released updated guidance on using corticosteroids for COVID-19. The WHO recommends systemic corticosteroids rather than no systemic corticosteroids for the treatment of people with severe and critical COVID-19 (strong recommendation, based on moderate certainty evidence). The WHO suggests not to use corticosteroids in the treatment of people with non-severe COVID-19 (conditional recommendation, based on low certainty evidence). The updated guidance was based on a meta-analysis of clinical trials of critically ill COVID-19 patients.

In September 2020, the European Medicines Agency (EMA) endorsed the use of dexamethasone in adults and adolescents from twelve years of age and weighing at least 40 kilograms (88 lb) who require supplemental oxygen therapy. Dexamethasone can be taken by mouth or given as an injection or infusion (drip) into a vein.

In November 2020, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued an emergency use authorization for the investigational monoclonal antibody therapy bamlanivimab for the treatment of mild-to-moderate COVID-19. Bamlanivimab is authorized for people with positive results of direct SARS-CoV-2 viral testing who are twelve years of age and older weighing at least 40 kilograms (88 lb), and who are at high risk for progressing to severe COVID-19 or hospitalization. This includes those who are 65 years of age or older, or who have chronic medical conditions.

In April 2021, the FDA revoked the emergency use authorization (EUA) that allowed for the investigational monoclonal antibody therapy bamlanivimab, when administered alone, to be used for the treatment of mild-to-moderate COVID-19 in adults and certain pediatric patients.

Cytokine storm

Tocilizumab has been included in treatment guidelines by China's National Health Commission after a small study was completed. It is undergoing a PhaseII non-randomised trial at the national level in Italy after showing positive results in people with severe disease. Combined with a serum ferritin blood test to identify a cytokine storm (also called cytokine storm syndrome, not to be confused with cytokine release syndrome), it is meant to counter such developments, which are thought to be the cause of death in some affected people. The interleukin-6 receptor antagonist was approved by the FDA to undergo a PhaseIII clinical trial assessing its effectiveness on COVID-19 based on retrospective case studies for the treatment of steroid-refractory cytokine release syndrome induced by a different cause, CAR T cell therapy, in 2017. To date, there is no randomised, controlled evidence that tocilizumab is an efficacious treatment for CRS. Prophylactic tocilizumab has been shown to increase serum IL-6 levels by saturating the IL-6R, driving IL-6 across the blood-brain barrier, and exacerbating neurotoxicity while having no effect on the incidence of CRS.

Lenzilumab, an anti-GM-CSF monoclonal antibody, is protective in murine models for CAR T cell-induced CRS and neurotoxicity and is a viable therapeutic option due to the observed increase of pathogenic GM-CSF secreting Tcells in hospitalised patients with COVID-19.

Passive antibodies

Transferring purified and concentrated antibodies produced by the immune systems of those who have recovered from COVID-19 to people who need them is being investigated as a non-vaccine method of passive immunisation. Viral neutralization is the anticipated mechanism of action by which passive antibody therapy can mediate defence against SARS-CoV-2. The spike protein of SARS-CoV-2 is the primary target for neutralizing antibodies. As of 8August 2020, eight neutralizing antibodies targeting the spike protein of SARS-CoV-2 have entered clinical studies. It has been proposed that selection of broad-neutralizing antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 and SARS-CoV might be useful for treating not only COVID-19 but also future SARS-related CoV infections. Other mechanisms, however, such as antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity or phagocytosis, may be possible. Other forms of passive antibody therapy, for example, using manufactured monoclonal antibodies, are in development.

The use of passive antibodies to treat people with active COVID-19 is also being studied. This involves the production of convalescent serum, which consists of the liquid portion of the blood from people who recovered from the infection and contains antibodies specific to this virus, which is then administered to active patients. This strategy was tried for SARS with inconclusive results. An updated Cochrane review in May 2021 found high certainty evidence that for the treatment of people with moderate to severe COVID-19 convalescent plasma did not reduce mortality or bring about symptom improvement There continues to be uncertainty about the safety of convalescent plasma administration to people with COVID-19 and differing outcomes measured in different studies limits their use in determining efficacy.

Effect on other diseases and the pharmacy trade

There was a report on 3March 2021, that social distancing and common wearing of surgical masks and similar as a common precaution against COVID-19 caused such a drop in the spread rate of the common cold and flu that in Britain the sale of cough liquids and throat lozenges and decongestants from 30 November 2020 to 21 February 2021, was about a half of the sale a year earlier, and that Public Health England reported no cases of flu in the year 2021 to date, and that there was an 89% rise in sales of Vitamin D to try to boost immunity.

References

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Coronavirus disease 2019(COVID-19) Other names COVID, (the) coronavirus Transmission and life-cycle of SARS-CoV-2 causing COVID-19.

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Joko Widodo (born Mulyono, 21 June 1961), also known as Jokowi, is an Indonesian politician who is the 7th and current president of Indonesia. Elected in July 2014 as the first president not to come from an elite political or military background, he was previously the Mayor of Surakarta from 2005 to 2012, and the Governor of Jakarta from 2012 to 2014.

He achieved national prominence in 2009 for his work as the Mayor of Surakarta. A member of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), he was named as the party's candidate for the 2012 Jakarta gubernatorial election, alongside Basuki Tjahaja Purnama (often known as Ahok) as his running mate. Defeating incumbent Fauzi Bowo, he took office in October 2012 and reinvigorated Jakartan politics, introducing publicised blusukan visits (unannounced spot checks) and improving the city's bureaucracy, reducing corruption in the process. He also introduced years-late programs to improve quality of life, including universal healthcare, dredging the city's main river to reduce flooding, and inaugurating the construction of the city's subway system.

The PDI-P nominated Jokowi, who was already seen as a rising star in Indonesian politics, for the 2014 presidential election. Winning a majority of the popular vote, he was named president-elect on 22 July 2014, to bitter protest from his opponent Prabowo Subianto, who disputed the outcome and withdrew from the race before the count was completed. As president, Jokowi has primarily focused on infrastructure, introducing or restarting long-delayed programs to improve connectivity in the Indonesian archipelago. On foreign policy, his administration has emphasised "protecting Indonesia's sovereignty", with the sinking of illegal foreign fishing vessels and the prescription of capital punishment for drug smugglers, despite intense pressure from foreign powers including Australia and France. He was re-elected in 2019 for a second five-year term, again defeating Prabowo Subianto.

Joko Widodo was born Mulyono on 21 June 1961 and is of Javanese descent. He is the eldest of four siblings and is the only son of Noto Mihardjo (father) and Sudjiatmi Notomihardjo (mother). He has three younger sisters, named Iit Sriyantini, Ida Yati, and Titik Relawati. His father came from Karanganyar, while his grandparents came from a village in Boyolali. Jokowi was often sick as a toddler, and his name was thus changed-a common practice in Javanese culture-to Joko Widodo, with widodo meaning "healthy" in Javanese. At the age of 12, he started working in his father's furniture workshop. Throughout his childhood, Jokowi's family constantly faced evictions from their landlords; this greatly affected him, and later in his career, he organised medical housing in Surakarta during his years as mayor of the city.

Jokowi's education began at State Elementary School 111 Tirtoyoso, known for being a school for less wealthy citizens. He continued his studies in State Junior High School 1 Surakarta, and later wanted to attend State Senior High School 1 Surakarta, but failed the entrance exam and instead enrolled in State Senior High School 6 Surakarta. Jokowi graduated from the Forestry faculty at Gadjah Mada University, Yogyakarta, in 1985, where his work included studies and research on the use of plywood. He later began work at PT Kertas Kraft Aceh ( id), a state-owned firm in the province of Aceh, Sumatra. He worked in what is today Bener Meriah Regency between 1986 and 1988, as a supervisor of forestry and raw materials of a Pinus merkusii plantation.

Jokowi, however, soon became uninterested in his activities in the firm and returned home. He then began working in his grandfather's furniture factory for a year before establishing his own company, Rakabu, whose namesake is his first child. The company, which mainly focused on teak furniture, nearly went bankrupt at one point but survived following a Rp 500 million loan from Perusahaan Gas Negara. By 1991, the company began exporting its products, and they were successful in international markets. The firm first established a presence in the European market in France, and it was a French customer named Bernard who gave Joko Widodo the nickname "Jokowi".

By 2002, Jokowi had become the chairman of Surakarta's furniture manufacturers association. Ultimately he decided to become a politician and promote reform in his home town, Surakarta, after seeing the neat layouts of some European cities while promoting his furniture there. After becoming mayor, he also made a joint venture with politician and former lieutenant general Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan, when the two founded PT Rakabu Sejahtera (from Rakabu and Luhut's PT Toba Sejahtera).

Jokowi reported his net worth in 2018 to be Rp 50.25 billion (US$3.5 million), mostly in the form of property holdings in Central Java and Jakarta.

After first joining PDI-P in 2004, Jokowi ran in the mayoral race in Surakarta in 2005 with F. X. Hadi Rudyatmo as his running mate, with the support of PDI-P and the National Awakening Party. The pair won 36.62% of the vote against the incumbent Slamet Suryanto and two other candidates. During the campaign, many questioned his background as a property and furniture businessman. However, one academic paper claimed his leadership style was successful because it established an interactive relationship with the people, through which he was able to induce people's strong faith in him. He adopted the development framework of European cities (which he frequently travelled to as a businessman) as a guide for changes in Surakarta.

Jokowi's notable policies as mayor included: Building new traditional markets & renovating existing markets, constructing a 7-km city walk with a 3-meter wide pedestrian walkway along Surakarta's main street, revitalising the Balekambang and Sriwedari parks, employing stricter regulations on cutting down trees along the city's main streets, rebranding the city as a centre of Javanese culture and tourism under the tagline 'The Spirit of Java', promoting the city as a centre for meetings, incentives, conventions and exhibitions (MICE), launching healthcare and education insurance program for all residents, a local bus rapid transit system named Batik Solo Trans and a Solo Techno Park, which helped support the Esemka Indonesian car project. It was during his tenure as mayor that he conducted the blusukan, an impromptu visit to specific areas to listen to people's issues, which proved popular later in his political career. He also prohibited his family members from bidding for city projects, therefore suppressing the risk of corruption.

His supporters pointed to rapid positive changes in Surakarta under his leadership and the branding the city with the motto 'Solo: The Spirit of Java'. While in office he successfully relocated antique stalls in the Banjarsari Gardens without incident, a helpful move in revitalising the functions of the open green land; he emphasised the importance of business firms engaging in community activities; he improved communications with the local community by appearing regularly on local television. As a follow-up of the new branding of the city, he applied for Surakarta to become a member of the Organization of World Heritage Cities, which was approved in 2006, and subsequently had the city chosen to host the organisation's conference in October 2008. In 2007, Surakarta had also hosted the World Music Festival (Festival Musik Dunia/FMD) which was held at the complex of Fort Vastenburg near the centre of the city. The FMD in 2008 was held in the Mangkunegaran Palace Complex.

Part of Jokowi's style was his populist 'can-do' ( punya gaye) elements designed to build bonds with the broad electorate. As mayor, he became personally involved in an incident just before Christmas 2011 when the Surakarta municipality had overdue bills of close to $1 million (Rp 8.9 billion) owed to the state-owned electricity company Perusahaan Listrik Negara (PLN). Following its policy of pursuing a more disciplined approach to collecting overdue bills, it imposed a blackout on street lights in the city just before Christmas. The city government quickly authorised payment but in settling the bill protested that the PLN should consider the public interest before taking such action. To reinforce the point, Jokowi made a highly publicised personal visit to the local PLN office to deliver the Rp 8.9 billion in cash in the form of hundreds of bundles of notes and even small coins.

In 2010, he was re-elected for a second term, again running with Hadi. They won 90.09% of the vote, losing in only a single polling station. He was later chosen as the 'Tempo Leader of Choice' by Tempo news magazine (2008) and received a 'Changemakers Award' from Republika newspaper (2010); his name also started being considered in national polls for the governorship of Jakarta, long before PDI-P's nomination, including those by University of Indonesia and Cyrus Network (2011).

Jokowi won the 2012 gubernatorial election in Jakarta after a runoff round against incumbent Fauzi Bowo. His inner circle of advisers in Jakarta was reported to include people such as FX Hadi 'Rudy' Rudyatmo, Sumartono Hadinoto, and Anggit Nugroho who were colleagues while he was mayor of Surakarta as well as Basuki Tjahaja Purnama ("Ahok"), his deputy as governor of Jakarta. Jokowi continued the blusukan practice he had adopted as mayor of Surakarta by regularly visiting population centres, especially slums. During these visits, he wore simple, informal clothes and stopped at markets or walked along narrow Jakarta alleys to listen and witness firsthand about issues addressed by residents such as the price of food, housing difficulties, flooding, and transportation. Polling and media coverage suggested that Jokowi's hands-on style proved very popular both in Jakarta and elsewhere across Indonesia.

After taking office, taxes and the provincial budget of Jakarta increased significantly from Rp 41 trillion in 2012 to Rp 72 trillion in 2014. Both Jokowi and Ahok publicised their monthly salary and the provincial budget. They also initiated programs aimed towards transparency, such as online taxes, e-budgeting, e-purchasing, and a cash management system. Moreover, all meetings and activities that were attended by Jokowi and Ahok were recorded and uploaded on YouTube.

In healthcare, Jokowi introduced a universal health care program, the 'Healthy Jakarta Card' ( Kartu Jakarta Sehat, KJS). It involved an insurance program provided through state-owned insurance company PT Askes Indonesia ( Persero) and a plan to regulate health charges for treatment for over 20,000 services and procedures. The program was criticised for confusion over details of the implementation and long queues, though Jokowi defended it and counselled patience. In education, Jokowi launched the 'Smart Jakarta Card' ( Kartu Jakarta Pintar, KJP) on 1 December 2012, to help needy students. It gives an allowance that can be withdrawn from ATMs for buying school needs such as books and uniforms.

His administration's other notable policies include a system of bureaucratic recruitment called lelang jabatan (literally 'auction of office position'), giving every civil servant the same opportunity to achieve a certain position by fulfilling the required qualifications, regulation of the chaotic agglomeration of street vendors in Pasar Minggu and Pasar Tanah Abang, the dredging and reservoir normalisation projects to reduce flooding, and the inauguration of long-delayed Jakarta MRT and Jakarta LRT. As governor, Jokowi also appointed of a non-Muslim 'lurah' (subdistrict chief) for the Muslim majority subdistrict of Lenteng Agung in spite of protests by some residents.

In handling squatters, Jokowi had been reported to Komnas HAM (Indonesian Human Rights Board) for human rights abuse after the eviction of the squatters near Pluit. In previous "political contracts", Jokowi had vowed not to evict residents to distant locations.

Megawati Sukarnoputri nominated Jokowi to be the presidential candidate of her party.

Following the release of Quick Count results from many different polls, Jokowi declared victory on 9 July. However, his opponent Prabowo Subianto also declared victory, creating confusion among the population. On 22 July, hours before the announcement of the election results, Prabowo withdrew. Jokowi's victory was expected and realised hours later. The General Elections Commission (KPU) gave him a close victory with 53.15% of the vote (almost 71 million votes), to Prabowo's 46.85% (62 million votes), though Prabowo's camp disputed these totals.

After his victory, Jokowi stated that growing up under the authoritarian and corrupt New Order regime, he would have never expected someone with a lower-class background to become president. The New York Times reported him as saying "now, it's quite similar to America, yeah? There is the American dream, and here we have the Indonesian dream". Jokowi was the first Indonesian president outside the military or the political elite, and the political commentator Salim Said gave the popular view of the politician as "someone who is our neighbour, who decided to get into politics and run for president."

In 2018, Jokowi announced that he would run for re-election next year. His vice president Jusuf Kalla was not eligible for another term because of the term limits set for president and vice president. Kalla had already served a five-year term as vice president during Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's first term (2004-2009). Speculation surrounding Jokowi's choice of running mate focused on several candidates including Mahfud MD, a former defence minister and chief justice of the Constitutional Court. In a surprise move, Jokowi announced that Ma'ruf Amin would be his running mate. Mahfud had reportedly been preparing for the vice-presidential candidacy. Ma'ruf was selected instead following a push by several constituent parties of Jokowi's governing coalition and influential Islamic figures. Explaining his decision, Jokowi referred to Ma'ruf's extensive experience in government and religious affairs.

The KPU officially announced that the Jokowi-Amin ticket had won the election in the early hours of 21 May 2019. The official vote tally was 85 million votes for Jokowi (55.50%) and 68 million votes for Prabowo (44.50%). Supporters of Prabowo protested in Jakarta against the result, and it turned into a riot which left eight people dead and over 600 injured. Following the protests, Prabowo's campaign team launched a Constitutional Court lawsuit but was rejected in its entirety.

Despite vowing not to give government positions simply to political allies during the 2014 campaign, many members of political parties received ministerial positions in Jokowi's first cabinet. The first year of Jokowi's administration saw him controlling a minority government, until Golkar, the second-largest party in the People's Representative Council (DPR), switched from opposition to the government. Jokowi denied accusations of having interfered with Golkar's internal affairs, although admitted that Luhut may have influenced the change. His cabinet's Minister of Industry Airlangga Hartarto was elected chairman of Golkar in 2018. The National Mandate Party (PAN) had also switched sides beforehand but later returned to being the opposition in 2018.

Jokowi announced the 34 names in his cabinet on 26 October 2014. While the cabinet was praised for inclusiveness of women, with Retno Marsudi becoming Indonesia's first female foreign minister, it received criticism for several perceived political inclusions such as Puan Maharani (daughter of Megawati Sukarnoputri). The Jokowi administration also saw the formation of two new ministries (Ministry of Public Works and Housing and Ministry of Environment and Forestry) from a merger of old ministries, in addition to renaming and reorganisation of other ministries. In total, he conducted three cabinet reshuffles until 2018, removing ministers such as Rizal Ramli and Bambang Brodjonegoro while including ministers such as Luhut and World Bank Director Sri Mulyani Indrawati.

He came under fire from his own political party for other policy weakness and one lawmaker from his own party, Effendi Simbolon, said he should be impeached. On 9 April 2015, during a PDI-P congress, his party's chair, former President Megawati Sukarnoputri, alluded to him as a functionary. Megawati noted the mechanism of a presidential election in which a political party nominates a candidate, as a hint that his position was owed to his PDI-P nomination and implying that it is natural for the president to carry out the party's political policy line. Several months prior, Megawati and Jokowi had disputed over the appointment of a new police chief, with Megawati supporting her former adjutant Budi Gunawan while Jokowi supported Badrodin Haiti.

Following his re-election, Jokowi announced his second cabinet on 23 October 2019. He retained several ministers such as Sri and Luhut, but also included the founder of Go-Jek Nadiem Makarim and two-time presidential rival Prabowo Subianto, as education and defence ministers respectively.

Before taking office, Jokowi sought for outgoing President SBY to take responsibility for the decision to further increase fuel prices by further removing subsidies. Previous attempts by SBY to do so had resulted in civil unrest. On 1 January 2015, Jokowi took measures which on the surface appeared to reduce fuel subsidies. The policy stirred up some demonstrations, with Jokowi citing it as necessary to increase funding for the infrastructure, education and health sectors. However, since March 2015, the government has set the price of Premium-branded gasoline far below the market price, causing the fuel subsidy to be incurred by state-owned oil company Pertamina instead of the direct government account. Additionally, the government also implemented a single-price program, aiming to sell fuel through official channels at the same price nationally including in isolated parts of Kalimantan and Papua. The government claimed that this was achieved in 2017.

In the first quarter of 2015, year-on-year GDP grew 4.92%, and in the second quarter, it grew 4.6%, the lowest figure since 2009. Since then, growth has remained above the 5% mark, which is still below what is considered healthy economic growth mark of 6%. The Indonesian rupiah has also weakened throughout Jokowi's administration, with its exchange rate per US dollar briefly passing Rp. 15,000 in 2018, the lowest level since the 1997 Asian financial crisis. The year-on-year inflation in June 2015 was 7.26%, higher than in May (7.15%) and June the year before (6.7%).

Jokowi's administration continued the resource nationalism policy of its predecessor, nationalising some assets controlled by multinational companies such as Freeport McMoRan, Total SA and Chevron. In 2018, in a move aimed to cut imports, oil companies operating in Indonesia were ordered to sell their crude oil to state-owned Pertamina.

Infrastructure development has been a significant feature of the Jokowi administration, with a focus on the road and railway expansion, seaports and airports development, and irrigation. In 2016, the state budget allocated Rp 290 trillion (US$22 billion) for infrastructure, the biggest in Indonesian history. In total, his administration planned 265 infrastructure projects starting in 2016. In September 2015, Indonesia awarded a $5.5 billion high-speed rail project to China, to Japan's disappointment, who is also vying for the project. Indonesia's transportation ministry laid out a litany of shortcomings in plans for the project, casting doubt on the project and spotlighting Jokowi's limits in turning mega-projects into reality as he tries to draw foreign investors. Other significant projects include the completion of the 4,325-kilometer Trans Papua road and the Trans-Java Toll Road, initial construction of the Trans-Sulawesi Railway and the Trans-Sumatra Toll Road, a US$50 billion plan to develop the maritime sector including 24 "strategic ports", and expansion of airport capacity in remote areas. The ports' development and modernisation program, dubbed the "Sea Toll Road" program, was aimed to reduce price inequality between the better developed western parts of the country and the less populated eastern parts.

In addition to the major projects, the Jokowi administration also implemented a village fund program in which villages across the country received funding to allocate on basic infrastructures such as roads and water supply, tourism development and village enterprises to improve rural economies. The initial campaign promise was that Rp 1.4 billion (around US$100,000) would be allocated for every village annually, though as of 2019 less than Rp 1 billion was allocated. Between 2015 and 2018, Rp 187 trillion (US$14 billion) had been reallocated through the program. The administration has targeted to streamline land certification across the country, aiming to distribute certificates of land ownership across the country completely. It involved increasing the issuing rate of certificates from around 500,000 to several million annually. In 2016, the administration signed into law a tax amnesty bill following a lengthy public debate and push back, giving wealthy Indonesians a chance to declare their unreported assets before the government would strengthen rules and oversight around imports and exports. It became the most successful program of its kind in history, with over Rp. 4,865 trillion (approximately US$366 billion) of previously unreported assets declared to the tax office.

The aggressive spending on infrastructure and the resulting increase in Indonesia's national debt - an increase of 48% between 2014 and March 2018 to US$181 billion - was criticised by the opposition. In April 2018, Jokowi also issued new policy which allowed foreign workers in Indonesia without Indonesian language skills requirement, reasoning that it would increase investments. The policy faced significant opposition from local labor unions, who claimed that the policy would increase unemployment rates.

Early in his first term, the opposition coalition within the People's Representative Council attempted to revoke a regulation ( Perppu, Government Regulation in Lieu of Acts) issued by Jokowi's predecessor, which had guaranteed the holding of direct regional elections in Indonesia (and overrode a legislator-issued bill which arranged for indirect elections). Jokowi supported the direct regional elections and opposed attempts to revoke the regulation, stating that "direct regional elections was, in principle, non-negotiable". Within the first three years of his administration, Jokowi issued four such Perppu.

Judicial executions in Indonesia are carried out under a Presidential Decree following a death sentence imposed by a trial court. Jokowi has stated that he refused to grant any clemency for drug offenders facing execution and argued that Indonesia was in a state of emergency over drug-related crimes, citing statistics the Jakarta Globe reported to be faulty. This stance drew criticism not only as it could harm relations with the native countries of the condemned convicts, but also because it imperils Indonesia's own citizens facing the death penalty abroad.

After multiple executions in 2015, Australia, Brazil and the Netherlands recalled their ambassadors from Indonesia. Australia reduced its foreign aid to Indonesia by nearly half, and Amnesty International issued a condemnation saying they showed a "complete disregard for due process and human rights safeguards." Former Indonesian constitutional court chief justice Jimly Asshiddiqie, who was a key player in the anti-death penalty lobby in Jakarta, said the push for the execution of Australians Myuran Sukumaran and Andrew Chan had come from Jokowi personally. Furthermore, the Sydney Morning Herald reported that Jokowi did not have or read related documents when he refused their clemency requests. In the same year, Jokowi granted Frenchman Serge Atlaoui and Filipino Mary Jane Veloso temporary reprieves due to pending legal appeals. As of 2017, around 260 people remain on death row in Indonesia.

In early 2016, his administration proposed a new anti-terrorism law to replace the previous one made in 2003. Following the Surabaya bombings of 2018, the worst terrorist attack on Indonesian soil since the 2002 Bali bombings, the controversial bill passed, allowing the Indonesian National Armed Forces to participate in counter-terrorism activities given presidential approval and police requests. The law also allowed extended detention of terrorism suspects and permitted the use of wiretapping without initial court approval. Jokowi himself threatened to issue a replacement law ( Perppu) if the bill did not pass the parliament by June that year. He also supported a controversial 2017 bill on mass organisations, which upon passing saw the Indonesian branch of the Hizb ut-Tahrir being disbanded. He stated that the law was a necessity to defend the national ideology Pancasila.

Although a government-supported symposium to resolve human rights violations following the 1965 30 September Movement was held in 2016, Jokowi stated that his government would not apologise to the victims of the Indonesian mass killings of 1965-66. On LGBT rights, Jokowi stated that "there should be no discrimination against anyone", but added that "in terms of our beliefs, [the LGBT lifestyle] isn't allowed, Islam does not allow it."

Under his presidency, the controversial transmigration program was cut once more, when in 2015 the decision was made to end the migration program to the Papuan provinces of the east from Java.

Many people were arrested for their posts on social media that were deemed insulting to Jokowi. The arrests were considered by observers as a violation of freedom of speech, hence contradicting the constitution. Moreover, the government's plans to resurrect a Dutch colonial law which would permit imprisonment for insulting the president resulted in widespread protests. After the protests, a Law Firm and Public Interest Law Office (AMAR) institution reported receiving a lot of complaints of students regarding threats and sanctions of expulsion or suspension from their schools and universities.

After publishing a controversial magazine cover with a caricature of Jokowi with Pinocchio long nose, the magazine Tempo was reported to the police by a group claiming to be Jokowi's supporters for insulting the president. The Presidential Palace later issued a statement regarding the Tempo affair that "the President respected freedom of press and speech". A remission granted to a journalist's murderer also became a source of controversy before its revocation following media pressure. A book critical of Jokowi titled Jokowi Undercover was banned upon release. Its author was arrested and sentenced to three years in prison. Buyers of the book were advised to surrender their copies to the authorities.

In the aftermath of the 2019 election protests, Amnesty International's Indonesian office denounced the repressive actions against the demonstrators, and condemned them as a grave human rights abuse, also demanding the government to take responsibility to investigate the extrajudicial executions in the clash.

Internet access in Indonesia was restricted several times between 2018 and 2019, such as during the post-election riots in May 2019 and the Papua protests in August 2019. Komnas HAM called the shutdown as a human rights abuse by the government.

Before Jokowi's election, Indonesia's foreign policy under former President SBY was moulded by the mission statement, "A thousand friends and zero enemies". Jokowi has mandated a three-pronged policy of maintaining Indonesia's sovereignty, enhancing the protection of Indonesian citizens, and intensifying economic diplomacy.

Jokowi aspires Indonesia to become a global maritime power ( Indonesian: poros maritim dunia or global maritime axis). He sees the sea would have an increasingly important role in Indonesia's future, and that as a maritime country, Indonesia must assert itself as a force between the two oceans: the Indian Ocean and the Pacific Ocean. The five pillars of this maritime-axis doctrine are rebuilding Indonesia's maritime culture, maintaining and managing marine resources, developing maritime infrastructure and connectivity as well as developing the shipping industry and maritime tourism, inviting other nations to cooperate in the marine field and eliminate the source of conflicts at sea, and developing maritime defence forces. As part of this vision, Jokowi has adopted a tougher stance on illegal fishing. He stated that Jakarta could no longer tolerate a situation in which over 5,000 ships are operating illegally in its waters every day, making a mockery out of Indonesian sovereignty and resulting in annual losses of over $20 billion.

On the territorial disputes in the South China Sea, particularly in the Natuna Islands where China's nine-dash line intercepts Indonesian EEZ claims, Jokowi stated that "there will be no compromise on sovereignty", and renamed Indonesia's section of the waters in the South China Sea as "North Natuna Sea". In June 2016, he held a cabinet meeting off the islands aboard the Indonesian Navy corvette KRI Imam Bonjol, calling to step up maritime patrols in the area. Under his administration, Indonesia has released an "Indo-Pacific Vision" for ASEAN countries, which calls for regional architecture and considers the Indian and Pacific Oceans as a single interconnected geostrategic area. Indonesia also entered a trilateral cooperation agreement with Malaysia and the Philippines, allowing coordinated patrols in the pirate-infested Sulu Sea.

In the Muslim world, Jokowi released a statement calling for the Muslim leaders at the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation summit meeting in Jakarta to unite in reconciliation and push for Palestinian independence. Under Jokowi, Indonesia's Foreign Minister has visited Palestine but refused entreaties to establish bilateral diplomatic relations with Israel. An honorary consul was established in Ramallah in the West Bank though it had to be inaugurated in Amman, Jordan. Jokowi also condemned the persecution of Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar and oversaw the departure of four Indonesian Air Force transport planes with 34 tons of relief supplies for Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh.

By April 2019, it was made public that Jokowi had decided in a meeting with cabinet ministers to move the capital of Indonesia away from Jakarta to a location outside Java. On 25 August 2019, it was further announced that the new capital would be located in Kalimantan, between the regencies of North Penajam Paser and Kutai Kartanegara.

Jokowi married his wife Iriana in 1986. The couple has two sons and one daughter. Their first son, Gibran Rakabuming Raka (born 1 October 1987), studied abroad in Sydney and Singapore (at the Management Development Institute of Singapore, MDIS) and currently runs a catering and wedding-planning business in Surakarta. Their only daughter, Kahiyang Ayu (born 20 April 1992), completed an undergraduate degree in food technology at the state-owned Sebelas Maret University in Surakarta. Their second son, Kaesang Pangarep (born 25 December 1994), completed his high school years in ACS International, Singapore, and is an online vlogger. Jokowi has two grandchildren, born in 2016 and 2018 from Gibran and Kahiyang, respectively.

Jokowi has been described as "Muslim but broadly secular in his outlook", and 2019, his statement that religion and politics should be separated caused a public debate on whether he was promoting secularism in the country. In June 2013, a film titled Jokowi, depicting Jokowi's childhood and youth, was released. He expressed some objections to the film saying that he felt his life had been a simple one and was not worthy of being adapted into a film.

Several members of Jokowi's family has declared their intentions to enter politics by running as a candidate to local government (mayors and regents). His first son Gibran has declared his candidacy for the mayoralship of Surakarta, in addition to his son-in-law Bobby Nasution ( Medan) and brother-in-law Wahyu Purwanto ( Gunung Kidul Regency).

According to The Economist, Jokowi "has a penchant for loud rock music" and owned a bass guitar signed by Robert Trujillo of heavy metal band Metallica, that was confiscated by the anti-corruption commission, KPK. He is also a fan of Lamb of God, Led Zeppelin and Napalm Death. On 2 November 2013, while he was the Governor of Jakarta, he was seen in the rock festival Rock in Solo in casual dress. In November 2017, Danish Prime Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen, who was on an official visit to Jakarta, gave Jokowi a Metallica Master of Puppets vinyl box set as a diplomatic gift. It was signed by the band's drummer and co-founder, Lars Ulrich, a Danish native. In accordance with his policy of transparency, Jokowi paid 11 million rupiah ($800) out of his personal funds to claim the record, which had been declared a state asset to avoid accusations of corruption.

2008: Listed by as one of the 'Top 10 Indonesian Mayors of 2008'.

2012: Ranked 3rd at the 2012 World Mayor Prize for "transforming a crime-ridden city into a regional centre for art and culture and an attractive city to tourists".

2013: Listed as one of "The Leading Global Thinkers of 2013" in Foreign Policy magazine. In February 2013 he was nominated as the global mayor of the month by the City Mayors Foundation, based in London.

2014: Listed by as one of "The World's 50 Greatest Leaders".

2016-2017: List by "The Muslim 500" as one of the most influential Muslims in the world, which ranked 11 in 2016 and 13 in 2017.

1. ^ "Naik Kopaja, Jokowi - Ahok Daftar Jadi Cagub DKI" (in Indonesian). Tempo. 19 March 2012.

2. 'Governor of Jakarta Receives His Party's Nod for President', The New York Times, 14 March 2014.

3. "Bali Nine executions, Indonesia responds to Australia withdrawing Ambassador". 29 April 2015.

4. ^ Dihadapan Pimpinan Muhammadiyah, Jokowi Bantah Anti Islam Archived 23 July 2015 at the Wayback Machine diakses dari situs Metro TV News pada tanggal 26 May 2014.

5. Samah, Kristin; Susanti, Fransisca Ria (2014). Saya Sujiatmi, Ibunda Jokowi (in Indonesian). Gramedia Pustaka Utama. ISBN 9786020304441.

6. ^ "Begini Perjalanan Politik Jokowi, Si 'Capres Kerempeng'". detikNews (in Indonesian). 20 October 2014.

7. ^ Cahyadi Indrananto (June 2012) Pemimpin Daerah Sebagai Agen: Dramaturgi dalam Komunikasi Politik Walikota Solo Joko Widodo / Local Leaders as Agents: Dramaturgy on Political Communications of City Mayor Joko Widodo of Solo, Postgraduate Thesis.

8. ^ Joko Wididi Raih Penghargaan Best City Award Asia Tenggara - Best City Award Delgosea Joko Widodo penataan PKL walikota solo

9. Kusumasari Ayuningtyas, '^ Surakarta mayor uses car made by vocational school students' Archived 24 December 2013 at the Wayback Machine, The Jakarta Post, 3 January 2012.

10. See the several reports by Sita W. Dewi and Kusumasari Ayuningtyas: '^ Jokowi's star appeal: Making hay while sun shines', The Jakarta Post, 18 November 2013; 'The inner circle', The Jakarta Post, 19 November 2013; Sita W. Dewi, 'Man of the house, man of the moment', The Jakarta Post, 20 November 2013.

11. ^ Pernyataan PAD 72 Triliun diralat sebagai APBD, bukan PAD oleh Kepala Dinas Pelayanan Pajak DKI Jakarta Iwan Setiawandi

12. Tom McCawley (November 2013) ^ "Overdue Antidote" Archived 24 December 2013 at the Wayback Machine, Development Asia, Asian Development Bank.

13. ^ "Indonesia executes drug smugglers by firing squad". Al Jazeera. Al Jazeera. 29 April 2015.

14. ^ "Indonesia's New Foreign Policy - 'Thousand friends- zero enemy'". Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses.

15. ^ Weatherbee, Donald E. (2017). "Indonesia's Foreign Policy in 2016: Garuda Hovering". Southeast Asian Affairs: 172. ISSN 0377-5437. JSTOR 26492600.

16. ^ "Fortune ranks the World's 50 Greatest Leaders" Archived 23 March 2014 at the Wayback Machine. Fortune. 20 March 2014

17. ^ Mei 2017, Rizki Akbar Hasan21; Wib, 16:00 (21 May 2017). "Jokowi di Peringkat 13 Muslim Paling Berpengaruh di Dunia". liputan6.com.

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Joko Widodo (born Mulyono, 21 June 1961), also known as Jokowi, is an Indonesian politician who is the 7th and current president of Indonesia. Elected in July 2014 as the first president not to come from an elite political or military background, he was previously the Mayor of Surakarta from 2005 to 2012, and the Governor of Jakarta from 2012 to 2014.

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Independence Day of Indonesia
Hari Kemerdekaan Republik Indonesia
"HUT RI"

Official name

Hari Ulang Tahun Kemerdekaan Republik Indonesia
(shortened HUT RI)

Observed by
Indonesians

Type

National

Significance

Marks the proclamation of independence of Indonesia

Date
17 August

Next time

17 August 2021

Frequency

Annual

The Independence Day of Indonesia (In Indonesian formally known as Hari Ulang Tahun Kemerdekaan Republik Indonesia shortened "HUT RI", or simply Hari Kemerdekaan, and colloquially referred by the people as Tujuhbelasan, meaning "the Seventeenth") is a national holiday in Indonesia commemorating the anniversary of Indonesia's Proclamation of Independence on the 17 of August 1945. It was made a national holiday by government decree in 1946.

Ceremonies and festivities are held throughout the country to celebrate this national day, including the flag hoisting ceremony conducted nation-wide and at Indonesian diplomatic installations abroad, local community competitions, with patriotic and cultural parades. Discounts are offered by participating shopping centres or businesses. On the 16th of August, a day prior to the independence day, the President of Indonesia will address the nation at the People's Consultative Assembly.

On the 17th of August, at 10.00 AM Western Indonesian Time all Indonesian national television stations will broadcast the National Independence Day Ceremony live from the Merdeka Palace in Jakarta. And earlier in the morning at 7 AM local time, cities and regencies throughout Indonesia will conduct the flag hoisting ceremony at their respective city halls. Streets, public places and public transportation will be filled with nationalistic and patriotic decorations and art dominating with the red and white color symbolizing the national flag of Indonesia throughout the month of August.

According to the Constitution of Indonesia Act Number 24 Year 2009 concerning the National Flag, National Language, State Symbols and National Anthem Article 7 paragraph 3, it obliges every citizen of Indonesia to fly the national flag in front of their houses as well as on public institutions, office buildings, educational institutions, and on private and public transportation facilities throughout the country, as well as on Indonesian diplomatic offices abroad, on the 17 of August. Nowadays, the government requests the public to fly the national flag for a whole month in August (starting from the 1st till the 31st) to commemorate the Independence Day of the country.

Despite the obligation to raise the national flag, in August, community members also raise red and white pennant flags and banners along streets and alleys and also decorate the community with shades of red and white as a representation of the colors of the national flag to celebrate and welcome the independence day, a custom which has been in practice for many years.

On the morning of the 17th of August, to commemorate Independence Day, the national Flag Hoisting Ceremony will take place at the Merdeka Palace in Jakarta hosted by the President of Indonesia accompanied by the Vice President to reenact the declaration of independence proclaimed by President Sukarno in 1945, held at 10.00 AM. It will broadcast nationwide by state and private television and radio stations, and in the current years will broadcast live in YouTube by the State Secretariat and a number of Indonesian television networks.

The national level

Starting at 09.00 AM Western Indonesian Time, the national independence day ceremony at Merdeka Palace will broadcast live nationally. The ceremony is attended by distinguished guests starting from ambassadors and foreign defense attaches, former Indonesian presidents and vice presidents, ministers with other government officials, prominent state figures, cultural figures including artists and celebrities, veterans, and other selected invitees from the general public.

The ceremony starts as the tri-services and police Guard of honour enters the palace forecourt at about 9.30 AM. As the President and Vice President enters the palace, the Ceremony Commander will present a general salute to the President which is then followed by the remembrance of the proclamation of independence precisely at 10.00 AM accompanied by a 17-gun salute fired from the National Monument (Monas) by the Indonesian Army 7th Field Artillery Battalion. Then, it is followed by the reading of the proclamation of Independence by the Head of the People's Representative Council, a moment of silence known as Mengheningkan Cipta to remember those who have fallen in duty and then followed by a national prayer read by the Minister of Religious Affairs.

After the national prayer, the core event of the ceremony takes place as the National Flag Hoisting Troop (composed of high school students representing every province) marches into the main palace forecourt to raise the national flag with precision and discipline in drill, the raising of the national flag will be accompanied by the national anthem: the Indonesia Raya. After the national flag is raised, a fly-past will be conducted by the Indonesian Air Force right above the Merdeka Palace and it will be followed by an orchestral and musical performance by the Indonesian national orchestra the Gita Bahana Nusantara presenting Indonesian patriotic and traditional songs. The ceremony then is concluded by a general salute to the president and the Honour guards exit the palace forecourt at noon.

In the afternoon at 5 PM Western Indonesian Time, the National Flag Lowering Ceremony will take place at Merdeka Palace hosted by the President and Vice President of Indonesia. The ceremony is usually preceded by marching band, musical and traditional dance performances usually broadcast live since 4 PM. The lowering of the flag will be conducted by the second group of the National Flag Hoisting Troop and the national flag will be presented back to the President after being raised at the palace forecourt.

The regional level

On the 17th of August, the national flag hoisting and lowering ceremonies will also be conducted in every city and regency throughout the country with the local Mayor or Regent as the guest of honor (for the ceremony conducted at the city or regency level), and the provincial Governor as the guest of honor (for the ceremony conducted at the provincial capital city level). The flag hoisting ceremony will take place earlier in the morning, which is at 7 AM local time for the regional level before the national level at Merdeka Palace in Jakarta commences. The flag-lowering ceremony will be conducted in the afternoon at about 5 PM local time.

Other independence day ceremonies

Other than the national and regional flag hoisting ceremonies conducted by the government, schools, private sectors, offices, corporations, and other organizations throughout the country also conducts the flag hoisting ceremony to commemorate independence day. It is usually done a couple of days after the 17th of August while some organizations or institutions maintain it to be conducted at the 17th of August.

Independence Day is regarded as an important public holiday in Indonesia, and to celebrate independence day, it is filled with joyful community competitions organized by localities throughout the country (locally known as lomba tujuhbelasan meaning "independence day competitions"). After witnessing the National Flag Hoisting ceremony in the morning, in the afternoon people usually participate in such activities. Some areas organize these competitions a couple of days or weeks after the 17th of August, usually organizing it on a weekend.

Traditional games and competitions usually held to commemorate independence day are:

Krupuk-eating race

Panjat pinang, it is a famous independence day game usually conducted at villages or communities throughout the country. The game is done by using a greased pole and putting precious prizes on top, and participants must climb the pole to get the prizes.

Community Marching, known locally as Gerak Jalan is done where participants wear unique uniforms and march in a synchronized manner. This is done to compete between members of a neighborhood and is usually participated by adults.

Bicycling carnival, known locally as Sepeda hias is participated by children riding their bicycles decorated in the Independence Day theme with red and white and the winner would be announced for the best decorated bicycle.

Marble in spoon race

Bottle fishing

Wooden clog race

Musical chair or fight over seats

Coin biting

Pillow fight

Hitting the kendi terracotta jar blindfolded, similar with piñata

Balloon bursting

Balloon dance

Searching for coins in flour

Orange dance

Inserting thread into needle race

Colouring competition

Catching the eel race

Various sports competitions are also held such as soccer, badminton, volleyball, table tennis, etc.

On Independence Day, parades or carnivals take place on streets in cities and villages across the nation. They might take the form of a modest carnival, organized by local people, where children and sometimes adults wear patriotic clothes, or traditional ethnic costumes. Some larger parades might be held and organized by provincial, regency, or municipal governments, staged in main thoroughfares of cities.

Some places may hold independence day carnivals not precisely on the 17 of August, but usually on a Saturday or Sunday following the 17 of August. The parade and carnival usually feature marching bands, decorative floats, patriotic parades and cultural carnivals featuring traditional costumes of various ethnic groups of Indonesia.
They usually start in Merdeka Square by the National Monument, parading through capital main avenues; Thamrin and Sudirman avenues, passing Selamat Datang Monument and the Gelora Bung Karno Sports Complex.

In recent years however, the main national carnival has not been staged in the national capital, but in provinces with regional cities taking turns hosting this national event. In 2017, for example, the national independence carnival was staged in Bandung, West Java.

A national theme is announced by the central government to accompany the annual independence day which alternately changes according to the situation of the country in that particular year. Independence day themes have been announced as follows:

Year

Independence Anniversary

Theme

Translation

2010

Dengan Semangat Proklamasi 17 Agustus 1945, Kita Sukseskan Reformasi Gelombang Kedua, untuk Terwujudnya Kehidupan Berbangsa yang Makin Sejahtera, Makin Demokratis, dan Makin Berkeadilan.

With the Spirit of the Proclamation of 17 August 1945, We Succeeds the Second Wave of Reformation, to Materialize a More Prosperous, More Democratic, and More Equitable National Life.

2014

Dengan Semangat Proklamasi 17 Agustus 1945, Kita Dukung Suksesi Kepemimpinan Nasional Hasil Pemilu 2014 Demi Kelanjutan Pembangunan Menuju Indonesia yang Makin Maju dan Sejahtera

With the Spirit of the Proclamation of 17 August 1945, We Support the Succession of National Leadership (from the) Results of the 2014 Election for the Continuation of Development Towards a More Advanced and Prosperous Indonesia

2015

Ayo Kerja

2016

Kerja Nyata

2017

Kerja Bersama

2018

Kerja Kita Prestasi Bangsa

2019

SDM Unggul, Indonesia Maju
formerly Menuju Indonesia Unggul

Superior Human Resources, an Advanced Indonesia

formerly Towards Superior Indonesia[16]

2020

Indonesia Maju

2021

Indonesia Tangguh, Indonesia Tumbuh

Festivities and activities celebrating the Independence Day of Indonesia:

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Independence Day (Indonesia) - Wikipedia

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Independence Day of Indonesia Hari Kemerdekaan Republik Indonesia "HUT RI" Official name Hari Ulang Tahun Kemerdekaan Republik Indonesia(shortened HUT RI) Observed by Indonesians Type National Significance Marks the proclamation of independence of Indonesia Date 17 August Next time 17 August 2021 Frequency Annual The Independence Day of Indonesia (In Indonesian formally known as Hari Ulang Tahun Kemerdekaan Republik Indonesia shortened "HUT RI", or simply Hari Kemerdekaan, and colloquially referred by the people as Tujuhbelasan , meaning "the Seventeenth") is a national holiday in Indonesia commemorating the anniversary of Indonesia's Proclamation of Independence on the 17 of August 1945.

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There are millions of web pages now, but none of them existed 20 years ago.

The first web page went live on August 6, 1991. It was dedicated to information on the World Wide Web project and was made by Tim Berners-Lee. It ran on a NeXT computer at the European Organization for Nuclear Research, CERN.

The first web page address was http://info.cern.ch/hypertext/WWW/TheProject.html.

It outlined how to create Web pages and explained more about hypertext.

Here's what it looked like in 1992 (below). No screenshots were taken of the site before then.

For more information on the early Internet and how it all works, check out What The Heck Is The Internet >>

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FLASHBACK: This Is What The First-Ever Website Looked Like

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There are millions of web pages now, but none of them existed 20 years ago. The first web page went live on August 6, 1991. It was dedicated to information on the World Wide Web project and was made by Tim Berners-Lee. It ran on a NeXT computer at the European Organization for Nuclear Research, CERN.

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With more than 130 million girls out of school today, she needs your help breaking down the barriers that hold girls back.

Your gift today is an investment in Malala Fund programmes that help girls around the world go to school.

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Learn how Malala began her fight for girls - from an education activist in Pakistan to the youngest Nobel Peace Prize laureate - and how she continues her campaign through Malala Fund.

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virus

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It is 1992, and three young men in a boy band are performing in a live television talent contest. The sound is new: Korean lyrics, Euro pop, African American hip-hop and rap. They dance in sync. The studio audience goes wild. The judges in their prim suits are less impressed. They reveal their scorecards. The band gets the lowest mark of the night, and is voted off the show

The judges couldn't have got it more wrong.

In the next few days the song I Know climbs to the top of the charts, and stays there for a record-smashing 17 weeks. That night the group, Seo Taeji and Boys, ignites a revolution. Korean pop or K-pop was born.

K-pop is now a multi-billion-dollar industry. Bands like BTS and Blackpink are selling out in the US, UK and international stadiums within minutes. BTS is second only to Drake in international music sales. How did K-pop conquer the world? It's a story with several parts.

The revolution will be televised
At the time, Bernie Cho was working at MTV. He says young Koreans were mostly listening to western music, and Korean music was aimed at their parents' generation. But that all started to change in 1992.

"It wasn't really an evolutionary process, it was very much a revolutionary process," says Cho. Sao Taeji and Boys blew everyone away with that one performance on the TV talent show, broadcast live into millions of South Korean homes. The band opened the door to generations of younger Korean artists who were inspired to create music using influences from other parts of the world.

In the late 1990s, major artists like Clone also made it in China and Taiwan. The prize at that time was the Japanese music market, and breakthrough happened in 2002 when Korea and Japan both hosted the soccer World Cup.

"Something happened that really caught us off guard," says Cho. The so-called "Queen of K-pop" BoA topped the charts in Japan many times over. "It was such a rare occurrence and an inspirational achievement," says Cho. "She really helped open the eyes and ears and ambitions for a lot of people in the music industry to say, 'Hey, if she can do it, maybe we can do it, too'."

From 2008, bigger forces meant that K-pop's reach extended well beyond an Asian fan base. Unlike in China and Japan, where they use home grown social media, Korean companies embraced international ones - Facebook, Twitter and YouTube - and K-pop began to become available on international music platforms.

"Fans overseas, if they saw it, heard it, liked it, wanted it, could immediately cross-over to another site, and either download that music, purchase that music or stream that music," says Cho. "There was a perfect storm of international marketing and promotions connecting with international sales and streaming."

That perfect storm culminated in, well we have to mention it, Psy and Gangnam Style in 2012. "[Psy] completely shattered the mould and the myth in terms of what it takes to get to number one, not only in the US market but worldwide. Psy was not a Korean version of a big pop star. Psy was Korea's version of Psy, and it turns out that's what the world wanted."

It showed that you could be big and not sing entirely in English or be in vogue. The power of the music video transcended language. Just one of the official videos of Gangnam Style on YouTube had well over three billion views, the largest number of hits of any video at that time.
Recruitment regime
Today, Korean music producers are experts at manufacturing incredibly successful products. "K-pop is a product not just made for Korea or made in Korea, but made by Korea," says Cho.

If K-pop is like a popular selling product, then how is it put together? Hannah Waite was at college in America looking for a subject to research. In the early hours of that morning, she stumbled across it.

"I came across a K-pop video that someone else posted and was blown away by the production value of it, the colours, the sounds. Everything was just so overwhelming," says Waite. "I remember when I first started researching this whole phenomenon, people were like, 'This is a flash in the pan. It's going to be like the Macarena', you know where it's like a one hit and then it's done, and it just sort of goes away and remains regional."

This was nothing like the Macarena. When Waite started looking, she couldn't find anything in English online. So, she started her own website called Moon-ROK, giving information on K-pop news and entertainment. The first day the site went live in 2014, it crashed.

"We weren't prepared for 15,000 people to come to the site overnight," says Waite. "We didn't even have the server capacity to actually host that many people."

Waite started delving deep into the origins of the bands. As in the West, the pop groups were manufactured. But in South Korea, it was taken to extremes. It was far more targeted. Children were spotted and recruited. "They start these kids out at a very young age," she says. "You could be anywhere from age 10 to 14 and you could get recruited simply because a rep from the agency saw you at the mall and thought that you look gorgeous."

There is, says Waite, a specific formula and a set of conditions for creating a K-pop star. There are three main agencies with up to 200 trainees each. There are other smaller ones out there too. All K-pop bands come through this system. The recruits either stay at home or live in dorms. They live by a tight regime.

"You wake up, probably 5am. You train for a bit, whether that's choreography classes, vocal lessons. You sort of have a personalised schedule based on what your role in the group is," says Waite. "Then they go to school until about 3pm, head back to the entertainment company where they do more lessons until about 11pm. In Seoul, the trains shut down at midnight, so they get on that last train, they go home, sleep for five hours and do it again."

Bear in mind, these budding stars haven't even debuted yet. And when they do, they can have even earlier starts. Waits says sometimes the trainees are existing on up to two hours' sleep a night. Once you drop that first single and have your first performance, the clock is then ticking down again, she says, to when you become irrelevant. "Right behind you, there is a group of hungrier, more ambitious, younger kids that's looking to dethrone you as the next big thing," says Waite. "So, you run yourself ragged to make sure that you're getting every penny out of it."

Over the past few years, there's been an increase in K-pop stars admitting to having mental health issues. There was a high-profile suicide in 2017: Jonghyun, lead singer of one of the biggest groups SHINee, took his own life at the age of 27, and a note believed to have been sent by him to a friend spoke of his struggles with depression and fame. Another well-known star T.O.P. overdosed on anxiety medications.

K-pop stars used to be bound by 13-year contracts. This term has been legally reduced to seven years. "That was actually the result of a couple of K-pop stars stepping out and saying these contracts are ridiculous: 'I sleep two hours a night. I don't want to go to these shows. But if I don't show up, I get fined and I'm trapped until I'm essentially 30-years old, because these contracts are so long'," says Waite. "They coined the term 'slave contract'."
Korean wave
But, the more K-pop has become more successful, the more the establishment has become interested.

"South Korean business leaders and political leaders were figuring out that they needed to expand into other areas," says Yung Lee, Professor of Sociology at University of California, Berkeley, who has written about K-pop. "The only thing young people especially were talking about was either South Korean drama or South Korean popular music."

The government started to back the music industry, giving it tax breaks. They gave money to academics to enhance the popularity of the genre, and foreign embassies were promoting the groups. It worked and brought in big business. But, as Lee points out, that wasn't all.

"The impact, of course, it not in terms of money, but in terms of its popularity and expanding the South Korean influence or soft power abroad."

There's even a word to describe this wave of Korean culture: Hallyu. And K-pop became central to lots of other profitable industries like the beauty business.

"For example, cosmetics and plastic surgery and other elements of the beauty industry really rely on K-pop, especially to promote this image that if you use these South Korean products and service that you will become attractive, cool, great looking just like these K-pop stars," says Lee. "The vast majority, I think, of young South Koreans get some form of intervention either in your face or your body. So, it's something that's really changing South Korea, and not always for better, I'm afraid."

It's resulted, he believes, in a cultural amnesia to traditional Korean society. "It's really accelerated in the last couple of decades, and K-pop is part of the process of the massive change in South Korean society," says Lee.

With that change and the emergence of some serious scandals, the worry is that it could tarnish brand Korea. And that could post a dilemma for the government.

"What can they do? They began to ride this horse, and so they're almost stuck with it now, and they invested so much prestige about South Korean in K-pop," says Lee. "So, they had no choice at this point but to keep on investing, to keep on trying to flog this horse that they've ridden on."

So, how did K-pop conquer the world? Clever design and brilliant marketing. But there's more to a K-pop band. It's an expression of Korean culture, and the government has been more than happy to capitalise on its success.

However, the constituent parts to the K-pop product are people, some as young as 10. They may have to endure so-called 'slave contracts' and arduous daily regimes. At its darkest, K-pop culture stands accused of scandals. Not a side of South Korea the government wants to advertise. All this may not be affecting music sales. But it's a heavy price of conquering the world.
This originally appeared on BBC World Service's The Inquiry. For more episodes of The Inquiry, please visit the progamme's site.
If you liked this story, sign up for the weekly bbc.com features newsletter, called The Essential List. A handpicked selection of stories from BBC Music, Culture, Capital, Future and Travel, delivered to your inbox every Friday.

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It is 1992, and three young men in a boy band are performing in a live television talent contest. The sound is new: Korean lyrics, Euro pop, African American hip-hop and rap. They dance in sync. The studio audience goes wild. The judges in their prim suits are less impressed.

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Coronavirus (or, as doctors and scientists call it, COVID-19) has been part of everyone's life since mid-March 2020, when most schools, businesses, and communities quickly changed how they operated to prevent the spread of the virus. Because the disease infected a large number of people all over the world, experts call this a pandemic.

For over a year, many kids attended school at least partly from their houses; their parents might've worked from home, too. This was all to avoid catching the virus from other people outside the home.

Lots of people helped their neighbors throughout the pandemic. First responders, like healthcare workers, police officers, and firefighters, kept people healthy and safe; essential workers such as grocery store employees, delivery drivers, and postal workers worked in-person to make sure other folks had what they needed to live.

Nearly 190 million people in the world have been infected by COVID-19, and more than four million people have died. But the good news is that the number of people getting the virus in the United States is going way down, thanks to testing, vaccines, and other preventative measures, like wearing masks and social distancing.

Here are answers to some questions you might still have about coronavirus.

So ... what is COVID-19? And what's a "coronavirus?"

The term "coronavirus" actually refers to a family of viruses that causes many different types of diseases, including the common cold. COVID-19 is a "novel coronavirus," which means it's a new disease unfamiliar to scientists and doctors. Its name is actually a mash-up of three words: CO stands for "corona," which means "crown" in Latin, and the viruses are named for the crown-like spikes on their surface; VI stands for "virus"; and D is for "disease." The "19" comes from the year 2019, when the disease was first detected.

How did COVID-19 start?

Scientists don't know the exact origin of COVID -19, and they might never have all the answers. But they do know that some diseases start in animals before spreading to humans. These types of diseases are called zoonotic (pronounced zoh-uh-NAH-tik). Cows, bats, and camels are among the animals that have spread diseases to humans in the past. The COVID-19 disease is also zoonotic, with the first cases popping up in December 2019 in Wuhan, China. The affected humans were all connected to a nearby market that sold live animals.

How does someone catch COVID-19?

COVID-19 can be transmitted by little droplets from coughs or sneezes, which is why doctors say unvaccinated people should wear masks when they're indoors or close to others. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), there's no evidence that a dog, cat, or any other pet can transmit COVID-19. But more studies are needed to understand how COVID-19 could affect different types of animals.

How can I protect myself?

Kids older than 12 can now get the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine. For older kids who aren't vaccinated, as well as kids 11 and younger, research shows that taking small steps-like staying six feet (about two arm lengths) from others, wearing face masks that cover the mouth and nose, washing hands often, and seeing friends outside-can make a big difference in stopping the spread of the virus. (Vaccines for kids under 12 are expected to be available later in 2021.)

Learn how vaccines work and why they're so effective.

OK, but what happens if I do get it?

Most people-including kids- who catch COVID-19 get better, and their illness is usually mild. But if you do catch COVID-19, you might have a dry cough, a fever, and shortness of breath. But just like when you've had a cold, the best treatment is to stay in bed-and away from anyone who might catch it from you. (Like your grandparents! Older people are more at risk for catching and getting sick from COVID-19.) You might also not even know you have it, so keep washing your hands and wearing a mask, just in case. Masks work best when everyone wears one.

Researchers expect that as more people are vaccinated and become immune to COVID-19, the number of cases will continue to go down. Immunity to the virus means the body can fight it off and won't spread it to another person. When enough people are immune to COVID-19 so that the illness is no longer a serious threat, that's called herd immunity. Experts say that for herd immunity to work in a community, between 75 and 85 percent of people need to be vaccinated. Almost 60 percent of Americans are fully vaccinated, depending on where you live: Some places are higher, and others are lower.

The majority of new cases in the United States are in unvaccinated people. They can also transmit the coronavirus to others, which is why the CDC recommends they still wear masks indoors and at crowded outdoor events.

What about school?

The latest guidelines from the CDC say that students and teachers who are fully vaccinated-meaning it's been two weeks since their second COVID-19 shot-can be in class without masks. For students too young to get the vaccine, the recommendation is to keep doing what you've been doing in school: wear masks and social distance. Scientists say that keeping just three feet indoors in school is enough to keep kids safe.

This story has been updated with new information about vaccines for children.

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Coronavirus (or, as doctors and scientists call it, COVID-19) has been part of everyone's life since mid-March 2020, when most schools, businesses, and communities quickly changed how they operated to prevent the spread of the virus. Because the disease infected a large number of people all over the world, experts call this a pandemic.

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On Sunday 26 December 2004, a magnitude 9 earthquake occurred off the West Coast of Northern Sumatra in the Indian Ocean. This caused the Indian Ocean tsunami that affected 13 countries and killed approximately 230,000 people.

This tsunami was particularly devastating because:

The earthquake which caused the tsunami was magnitude 9.

There was no Indian Ocean tsunami warning system in place. This could have saved more people in other countries further away from the epicentre.

In some coastal areas, mangrove forests had been removed to make way for tourist developments and therefore there was less natural protection.

Social impacts of the tsunami (effects on people)

230 000 deaths.

1.7 million homeless.

5-6 million needing emergency aid, eg food and water.

Threat of disease from mixing of fresh water, sewage and salt water.

1,500 villages destroyed in northern Sumatra.

Economic impacts of the tsunami (effects on money and jobs)

Ports ruined.

Fishing industry devastated - boats, nets and equipment destroyed. An estimated 60% of Sri Lanka's fishing fleet destroyed.

Reconstruction cost billions of dollars.

Loss of earnings from tourism - foreign visitors to Phuket dropped 80% in 2005.

Communications damaged, eg roads, bridges and rail networks.

Environmental impacts of the tsunami

Crops destroyed.

Farm land ruined by salt water.

8 million litres of oil escaped from oil plants in Indonesia.

Mangrove forests along the coast were destroyed.

Coral reefs and coastal wetlands damaged.

Responses to the tsunami

Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) and local authorities typically have immediate and secondary responses to devastation of this kind.

Immediate responses

Search and rescue.

Emergency food and water.

Medical care.

Temporary shelter.

Secondary responses

Re-building and improving infrastructure and housing.

Providing jobs and supporting small businesses.

Giving advice and technical assistance.

Responses to the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami can also be divided into short and long term:

Short-term responses

In many areas local communities were cut off and had to help themselves.

Food aid was provided to millions of people, eg from the World Food Programme.

$7 billion (just under £4.5billion) of aid was promised by foreign governments - but there were complaints that not all money pledged was given.

The British public gave £330 million through charities, eg the average Actionaid donation was £84 - their best ever response.

Long-term responses

Reconstruction is still taking place.

International scale: an Indian Ocean tsunami warning system has now been set up.

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Case study: tsunami - Tsunamis - KS3 Geography Revision - BBC Bitesize

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1 2 Page 2of 2 On Sunday 26 December 2004, a magnitude 9 earthquake occurred off the West Coast of Northern Sumatra in the Indian Ocean. This caused the Indian Ocean tsunami that affected 13 countries and killed approximately 230,000 people. This tsunami was particularly devastating because: The earthquake which caused the tsunami was magnitude 9.

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The Influenza pandemic of 1918 or Spanish flu was a serious pandemic of influenza. It lasted for three years, from January 1918 to December 1920. About 500 million people were infected across the world with a population of 1.80 billion people.

The pandemic spread to remote Pacific Islands and the Arctic. It killed 50 million to 100 million people- three to five percent of the world's population at the time.

It was one of the deadliest natural disasters in human history. One of the reasons for that was becuase the pandemic occured before people knew much about viruses, and before anti-viral medications and vaccines. The people would also get secondary infections leading to pneumonia, which in today's world we would treat with antibiotics like penicillin. Unfortunately Penicillin was only discovered in 1928, ten years after the 1918 pandemic.

To maintain morale, wartime censors reduced reports of illness and mortality in Germany, Britain (United Kingdom), France, and the United States; but papers could report the epidemic's effects in neutral Spain (such as the grave illness of King Alfonso XIII). This situation created the false impression of Spain being especially hard-hit. It also resulted in the nickname Spanish flu.

Often, influenza outbreaks kill young people, or the elderly, or those patients that are already weakened. This was not the case for the 1918 pandemic, which killed mainly healthy young adults. Modern research, using virus taken from the bodies of frozen victims, has concluded that the virus kills through a cytokine storm (overreaction of the body's immune system). The strong immune reactions of young adults ravaged the body. But, the weaker immune systems of children and middle-aged adults caused fewer deaths among those groups.

There is not enough historical and epidemiological data to show where the pandemic started. The pandemic may be a cause of the outbreak of encephalitis lethargica in the 1920s. Another flu pandemic had happened in the 21st century that turns out to be new strain of H1N1. The outbreak began in Mexico and then the United States; spread to the world.

Images for kids

Public health recommendations from the 1918 Illustrated Current News, New Haven, CT

Front page of El Sol ( Madrid), 28 May 1918: "The three-day fever. 80,000 infected in Madrid. H.M. the king is sick."

Advertisement in The Times 28 June 1918 for Formamint tablets to prevent 'Spanish influenza'

Edvard Munch (1863-1944), Self-Portrait with the Spanish Flu (1919)

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Influenza pandemic of 1918 Facts for Kids

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The Influenza pandemic of 1918 or Spanish flu was a serious pandemic of influenza. It lasted for three years, from January 1918 to December 1920. About 500 million people were infected across the world with a population of 1.80 billion people. The pandemic spread to remote Pacific Islands and the Arctic.

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World Trade Center

On September 11, 2001, at 8:45 a.m. on a clear Tuesday morning, an American Airlines Boeing 767 loaded with 20,000 gallons of jet fuel crashed into the north tower of the World Trade Center in New York City.

The impact left a gaping, burning hole near the 80th floor of the 110-story skyscraper, instantly killing hundreds of people and trapping hundreds more in higher floors.

As the evacuation of the tower and its twin got underway, television cameras broadcasted live images of what initially appeared to be a freak accident. Then, 18 minutes after the first plane hit, a second Boeing 767-United Airlines Flight 175-appeared out of the sky, turned sharply toward the World Trade Center and sliced into the south tower near the 60th floor.

The collision caused a massive explosion that showered burning debris over surrounding buildings and onto the streets below. It immediately became clear that America was under attack.

Osama bin Laden

The hijackers were Islamic terrorists from Saudi Arabia and several other Arab nations. Reportedly financed by the al Qaeda terrorist organization of Saudi fugitive Osama bin Laden, they were allegedly acting in retaliation for America's support of Israel, its involvement in the Persian Gulf War and its continued military presence in the Middle East.

Some of the terrorists had lived in the United States for more than a year and had taken flying lessons at American commercial flight schools. Others had slipped into the country in the months before September 11 and acted as the "muscle" in the operation.

Where Did the 9/11 Planes Take Off From?

The 19 terrorists smuggled box-cutters and knives through security at three East Coast airports-Logan International Airport in Boston, Dulles International Airport in Washington, D.C. and Newark International Airport in New Jersey-and boarded four early-morning flights bound for California, chosen because the planes were loaded with fuel for the long transcontinental journey. Soon after takeoff, the terrorists commandeered the four planes and took the controls, transforming ordinary passenger jets into guided missiles.

Pentagon Attack

As millions watched the events unfolding in New York, American Airlines Flight 77 circled over downtown Washington, D.C., before crashing into the west side of the Pentagon military headquarters at 9:45 a.m.

Jet fuel from the Boeing 757 caused a devastating inferno that led to the structural collapse of a portion of the giant concrete building, which is the headquarters of the U.S. Department of Defense.

All told, 125 military personnel and civilians were killed in the Pentagon, along with all 64 people aboard the airliner.

Twin Towers Collapse

Less than 15 minutes after the terrorists struck the nerve center of the U.S. military, the horror in New York took a catastrophic turn when the south tower of the World Trade Center collapsed in a massive cloud of dust and smoke.

The structural steel of the skyscraper, built to withstand winds in excess of 200 miles per hour and a large conventional fire, could not withstand the tremendous heat generated by the burning jet fuel.

At 10:30 a.m., the north building of the twin towers collapsed. Only 18 people in the World Trade Center towers at the time of the collapse survived. Most were with a group of FDNY firefighters in the North Tower's Stairwell B, which remained intact. One woman survived after the stairs she was rushing down disintegrated around her. Almost 10,000 others were treated for injuries, many severe.

Flight 93

Meanwhile, a fourth California-bound plane- United Flight 93-was hijacked about 40 minutes after leaving Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey. Because the plane had been delayed in taking off, passengers on board learned of events in New York and Washington via cell phone and Airfone calls to the ground.

Knowing that the aircraft was not returning to an airport as the hijackers claimed, a group of passengers and flight attendants planned an insurrection.

One of the passengers, Thomas Burnett, Jr., told his wife over the phone that "I know we're all going to die. There's three of us who are going to do something about it. I love you, honey." Another passenger-Todd Beamer-was heard saying "Are you guys ready? Let's roll" over an open line.

Sandy Bradshaw, a flight attendant, called her husband and explained that she had slipped into a galley and was filling pitchers with boiling water. Her last words to him were "Everyone's running to first class. I've got to go. Bye."

The passengers fought the four hijackers and are suspected to have attacked the cockpit with a fire extinguisher. The plane then flipped over and sped toward the ground at upwards of 500 miles per hour, crashing in a rural field near Shanksville in western Pennsylvania at 10:10 a.m.

All 44 people aboard were killed. Its intended target is not known, but theories include the White House, the U.S. Capitol, the Camp David presidential retreat in Maryland or one of several nuclear power plants along the eastern seaboard.

How Many People Died in the 9/11 Attacks?

A total of 2,996 people were killed in the 9/11 attacks, including the 19 terrorist hijackers aboard the four airplanes. Citizens of 78 countries died in New York, Washington, D.C., and Pennsylvania.

At the World Trade Center, 2,763 died after the two planes slammed into the twin towers. That figure includes 343 firefighters and paramedics, 23 New York City police officers and 37 Port Authority police officers who were struggling to complete an evacuation of the buildings and save the office workers trapped on higher floors.

At the Pentagon, 189 people were killed, including 64 on American Airlines Flight 77, the airliner that struck the building. On Flight 93, 44 people died when the plane crash-landed in Pennsylvania.

America Responds to the Attacks

At 7 p.m., President George W. Bush, who was in Florida at the time of the attacks and had spent the day being shuttled around the country because of security concerns, returned to the White House.

At 9 p.m., he delivered a televised address from the Oval Office, declaring, "Terrorist attacks can shake the foundations of our biggest buildings, but they cannot touch the foundation of America. These acts shatter steel, but they cannot dent the steel of American resolve."

In a reference to the eventual U.S. military response he declared, "We will make no distinction between the terrorists who committed these acts and those who harbor them."

Operation Enduring Freedom, the American-led international effort to oust the Taliban regime in Afghanistan and destroy Osama bin Laden's terrorist network based there, began on October 7. Within two months, U.S. forces had effectively removed the Taliban from operational power, but the war continued, as U.S. and coalition forces attempted to defeat a Taliban insurgency campaign based in neighboring Pakistan.

Osama bin Laden, the mastermind behind the September 11th attacks, remained at large until May 2, 2011, when he was finally tracked down and killed by U.S. forces at a hideout in Abbottabad, Pakistan. In June 2011, then-President Barack Obama announced the beginning of large-scale troop withdrawals from Afghanistan; it took until August 2021 for all U.S. forces to withdraw.

Department of Homeland Security Is Created

In the wake of security fears raised by 9/11 and the mailing of letters containing anthrax that killed two and infected 17, The Homeland Security Act of 2002 created the Department of Homeland Security. It was signed into law by President George W. Bush on November 25, 2002. Today, the Department of Homeland Security is a cabinet responsible for preventing terror attacks, border security, immigrations and customs and disaster relief and prevention.

The act was followed two days later by the formation of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States. The bipartisan " 9/11 Commission," as it came to be known, was charged with investigating the events that lead up to September 11th. The 9/11 Commission Report was released on July 22, 2004. It named Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the accused mastermind behind 9/11, "the principal architect of the 9/11 attacks."

Mohammed led propaganda operations for al Qaeda from 1999-2001. He was captured on March 1, 2003 by the Central Intelligence Agency and Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence and interrogated before being imprisoned in Guantanamo Bay detention camp with four other accused terrorists charged with 9/11-related war crimes. The use of torture, including waterboarding, during Khalid Sheikh Mohammed's interrogation has received international attention. In August 2019, a U.S. military court judge in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba set a trial date for Mohammed and the other four men charged with plotting the 9/11 terrorist attacks to begin in 2021; it was later postponed because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Economic Impact of 9/11

The 9/11 attacks had an immediate negative effect on the U.S. economy. Many Wall Street institutions, including the New York Stock Exchange, were evacuated during the attacks. On the first day of trading after the attacks, the market fell 7.1 percent, or 684 points. New York City's economy alone lost 143,000 jobs a month and $2.8 billion wages in the first three months. The heaviest losses were in finance and air transportation, which accounted for 60 percent of lost jobs. The estimated cost of the World Trade Center damage is $60 billion. The cost to clean the debris at Ground Zero was $750 million.

Victim Compensation Fund

Thousands of first responders and people working and living in lower Manhattan near Ground Zero were exposed to toxic fumes and particles emanating from the towers as they burned and fell. By 2018, 10,000 people were diagnosed with 9/11-related cancer.

From 2001 to 2004, over $7 billion dollars in compensation was given to families of the 9/11 victims and the 2,680 people injured in the attacks. Funding was renewed on January 2, 2011, when President Barack Obama signed The James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act into law. Named for James Zadroga, a New York City Police officer who died of respiratory disease he contracted after rescuing people from the rubble at Ground Zero, the law continued health monitoring and compensation for 9/11 first responders and survivors.

In 2015, funding for the treatment of 9/11-related illness was renewed for five more years at a total of $7.4 billion. The Victim Compensation Fund was set to stop accepting claims in December 2020.

On July 29, 2019, then-President Trump signed a law authorizing support for the September 11 Victim Compensation Fund through 2092. Previously, administrators had cut benefits by up to 70 percent as the $7.4 billion fund depleted. Vocal lobbyists for the fund included Jon Stewart, 9/11 first responder John Feal and retired New York Police Department detective and 9/11 responder Luis Alvarez, who died of cancer 18 days after testifying before Congress.

Anniversary and Memorial

On December 18, 2001, Congress approved naming September 11 "Patriot Day" to commemorate the anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. In 2009, Congress named September 11 a National Day of Service and Remembrance.

The first memorials to September 11 came in the immediate wake of the attacks, with candlelight vigils and flower tributes at U.S. embassies around the world. In Great Britain, Queen Elizabeth sang the American national anthem during the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace. Rio de Janeiro put up billboards showing the city's Christ the Redeemer statue embracing the New York City skyline.

For the first anniversary of the attacks in New York City in 2002, two bright columns of light were shot up into the sky from where the Twin Towers once stood. The "Tribute in Light" then became an annual installation run by the Municipal Art Society of New York. On clear nights, the beams are visible from over 60 miles away.

A World Trade Center Site Memorial Competition was held to select an appropriate permanent memorial to the victims of 9/11. The winning design by Michael Arad, "Reflecting Absence," now sits outside the museum in an eight-acre park. It consists of two reflecting pools with waterfalls rushing down where the Twin Towers once rose into the sky.

The names of all 2,983 victims are engraved on the 152 bronze panels surrounding the pools, arranged by where individuals were on the day of the attacks, so coworkers and people on the same flight are memorialized together. The site was opened to the public on September 11, 2011, to commemorate the 10-year anniversary of 9/11. The National September 11 Memorial & Museum followed, opening on the original World Trade Center site in May 2014. The Freedom Tower, also on the original World Trade Center site, opened in November 2014.

Sources

"Study Confirms 9/11 Impact on New York City Economy." The New York Times
"September 11: nearly 10,000 people affected by 'cesspool of cancer.'" The Guardian.
"Congress passes 9/11 Victim Compensation Fund extension championed by Jon Stewart." CNN.com
The Encyclopedia of 9/11. New York Magazine.
FAQ About 9/11. 9/11 Memorial.
September 11th Terror Attacks Fast Facts. CNN.
9/11 Death Statistics. StatisticBrain.com.

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September 11 Attacks: Facts, Background & Impact

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On September 11, 2001, 19 militants associated with the Islamic extremist group al Qaeda hijacked four airplanes and carried out suicide attacks against targets in the United States. Two of the planes were flown into the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York City, a third plane hit the Pentagon just outside Washington, D.C., and the fourth plane crashed in a field in Pennsylvania.

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Sir Stamford Raffles, in full Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles, (born July 6, 1781, at sea, off Port Morant, Jam.-died July 5, 1826, London, Eng.), British East Indian administrator and founder of the port city of Singapore (1819), who was largely responsible for the creation of Britain's Far Eastern empire. He was knighted in 1816.

Early life.

Born to an improvident merchant captain and his wife during a homeward voyage from the West Indies, Raffles grew up in an atmosphere of debt. Forced to cut short his schooling at the age of 14, he entered the service of the East India Company as a clerk in order to support his mother and four sisters. Although his formal education was inadequate, he studied the sciences and several languages at his own leisure and conceived an interest in natural history that was to earn him a distinguished reputation. His industry won him such notice that at the age of 23 he was appointed assistant secretary to the newly formed government of Penang, a hitherto inconspicuous island at the northern entrance to the Strait of Malacca.

Penang.

In Penang, which had been established to give Britain a foothold in the Dutch-held East Indies, Raffles shaped his career by an intensive exploration into the language, history, and culture of the Malayan peoples scattered over the islands of the archipelago. This unique study caught the attention of Lord Minto, governor-general of India, at a time of crisis, when Napoleon was using Java as a springboard for the destruction of Britain's slow and lumbering ships, the Indiamen, on the long haul to China. Determined to remove Java from French influence, Minto appointed Raffles his agent to prepare the way for a naval invasion.

Java.

Entrusted with an independent authority that aroused jealousy in Penang, Raffles established his headquarters in Malacca. Rewarded for his extraordinary work by an appointment to Minto's staff, Raffles sailed with him to Java, where the expeditionary force landed without mishap on Aug. 6, 1811, and, after a short and sharp engagement with the Dutch-French forces, occupied the island. Minto gave considerable credit for the success to Raffles. Having already described him as "a very clever, able, active and judicious man," he now recognized his intellectual and administrative ability and his humanism and concern for the Javanese, and on September 11 he proclaimed him lieutenant governor of Java. Shortly afterward Minto sailed for Calcutta, leaving Raffles at the age of 30 to rule not only Java but also an archipelagic empire of several million inhabitants.

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Raffles inaugurated a mass of reforms aimed at transforming the Dutch colonial system and improving the condition of the native population. His reforms, however, proved too costly to a trading company primarily concerned with profit and were short-lived. After four and a half years in Java, suffering from increasing ill health and shattered by the death of his wife, he was recalled. Left vulnerable to personal attack by the death of Minto, he sailed for England on March 25, 1816, thoroughly out of favour with the court of directors of the East India Company.

He never regained their full confidence. Despite a dazzling London success in both fashionable and learned society that culminated in his election as a fellow of the Royal Society and the award of knighthood, he resumed his Eastern service in a situation of reduced and restricted authority, as lieutenant governor of the dilapidated, fever-ridden pepper port of Bengkulu on the west coast of Sumatra. Yet it was from Bengkulu, as he watched the Dutch regain possession of the Indonesian archipelago and enforce a policy of complete commercial monopoly, that he made his next move to extend British influence in southeastern Asia.

Singapore.

In a voyage to Calcutta, which all but ended in shipwreck, he employed his wide knowledge of Eastern affairs and his powers of persuasion to convince Lord Hastings, then governor-general of India, that immediate and forceful action was essential to safeguard British trade with the Far East. On Dec. 7, 1818, he sailed from Calcutta, bearing Hastings' qualified authority to establish a fortified post eastward of the Straits of Malacca and so placed as to wedge open the gateway to the China seas. On the morning of Jan. 29, 1819, he landed on the shore of a sparsely populated island off the southern tip of Malaya and, risking imminent collision with the Dutch, established by treaty the port of Singapore. Although he returned to his post at Bengkulu for three years, he went back to Singapore in October 1822, when he reorganized the various branches of the administration. His regulations of January 1823 stated,

the Port of Singapore is a free Port, and the trade thereof is open to ships and vessels of every nation . . . equally and alike to all.

By a treaty of March 17, 1824, the Dutch relinquished all claim to Singapore. For Raffles, however, this was a time of rapidly deteriorating health, characterized by headaches of increasing ferocity, and he sailed for England, arriving there on Aug. 22, 1824. In London his vast collections illustrating natural history and Malayan lore won him acclaim as an Orientalist, and he assisted in founding the London Zoo, of which he was elected the first president. He died of a brain tumour in July 1826.
H.F. Pearson

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