COVID-19: An Epidemiological Puzzle

Pneumonia of unknown etiology was reported from Wuhan, Hubei province of China on 31th December, 2019. WHO declared the outbreak a public health emergency of international concern on 30th January, 2020. Thereafter, it has spread throughout China and reached the level of a pandemic expanding to 210 countries with 9,653,048 confirmed cases and 491,128 deaths as per COVID-19 Situation Report issued by WHO based on data received upto 27th June, 2020. Manifold questions remain unanswered regarding pathogen associated variables for amplification dynamics, host environment and agent interaction. Multidimensional issues regarding the epidemiological spectrum have cropped up but still unresolved. This study makes an effort to analyse the information gathered from published articles of renowned journals and newsletters to explore the epidemiological characteristics of COVID-19 disease. Hereby, we have tried to assemble the questions epidemiological lacunae created by the divergent demographic characteristics, long incubation period, secondary attack rate and puzzling transmission dynamics of COVID-19 that remain unanswered.