ABSTRACT
Since the outbreak of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in Wuhan, China, in late December 2019, the disease has already affected over 200 countries and territories in less than 4 months. On March 11, 2020, the WHO declared the outbreak as a pandemic. As of April 25, 2020, the contagious disease has already infected over 2, 919, 404 people and the number of deaths reached nearly 206, 482. As the disease is spreading rapidly, very less information is available regarding the spread of the novel virus and its effect over various countries. With the help of data science and its latest applications, this chapter aims to explain the rapid spread and impact of the novel coronavirus infection over individual countries. In this chapter, we have first explained about the evolution and transmission of viral diseases from animals to humans, next discussed about the various statistical methods used for the analysis of the spread of the disease, and finally come up with a comparison of the past 2 months of the pandemic (March and April). This chapter will give an insight of the application of data science in analyzing the latest COVID-19 pandemic and its impact. © 2022 Elsevier Inc.