COVID-19 is a new epidemic infectious disease characterized by a relatively high contagiousness and the likelihood of life-threatening complications in the form of acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), acute respiratory and multiple organ failure. The causative agent of the disease is the enveloped zoonotic RNA virus SARS-CoV-2 belongs to the Coronaviridae family, the genus Betacoronavirus, as well as the previously known SARS-CoV and MERS-CoV viruses, which cause severe acute respiratory syndrome and the Middle East respiratory syndrome, respectively. The virus is transmitted by air and contact routes, therefore, to protect medical personnel it is necessary to use individual protective suits and accessories, with protection of the respiratory tract and eyes, disinfection of hands and surfaces as when working with microorganisms of the I-II pathogenicity group. The diagnosis of COVID-19 is confirmed using real-time RT-PCR diagnostics that detect the presence of viral RNA. The clinical manifestations of COVID-19 vary from mild to moderate, to severe and extremely severe (5% of cases, ARDS, multiple organ failure, mechanical ventilation and resuscitation are necessary). The clinical picture of acute respiratory viral infections with severe fever, dry cough, respiratory failure, against the background of lymph and thrombocytopenia, normal procalcitonin, elevated levels of ferritin and CRP in the blood with signs of bilateral, polysegmental pneumonia and the phenomenon of "frosted glass" on CT, even in the absence of an unfavorable epidemiological An anamnesis makes it possible to diagnose COVID-19 with a high degree of probability and hospitalize the patient in an infectious isolation ward, without waiting for the results of PCR diagnostics. There is no specific etioptropic therapy for COVID-19; the only method that has proven effective in limited clinical trials is plasma infusion of convalescents with a high titer of neutralizing antibodies. High hopes are pinned on innovative treatments, such as the creation of neutralizing monoclonal antibodies and cell therapy using MSCs or NK cells. The first SARS-CoV-2 vaccine, mRNA-1273, is currently undergoing clinical trials.

The Time-Projection Chamber (TPC) is the main detector for tracking and identification of charged particles in the MultiPurpose Detector (MPD) at new accelerator complex the Nuclotron-based Ion Collider Facility (NICA) in Joint Institute for Nuclear Research (JINR), Dubna city, Moscow region. The status of the TPC construction is presented.

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The time-projection chamber (TPC) is the main tracking detector in the MPD at NICA. Information on charge particle tracks is registered by the multi-wire proportional chamber with cathode pad readout. The main parameters and some details of the TPC design and readout electronics are presented.

In the frame of the JINR scientific program on study of hot and dense baryonic matter a new accelerator complex Ion Collider fAcility (NICA) based on the Nuclotron-M is under realization. Two interaction points are foreseen at NICA for two detectors. One of these detectors, the Multi-Purpose Detector (MPD), is optimized for investigations of heavy-ion collisionsat a luminosity up to 1027 cm−2 s−1 for ions up to Au79+. The Time-Projection Chamber (TPC) is the main tracking detector of the MPD central barrel. It is a well-known detector for 3-dimensional tracking and particle identification for high multiplicity events. The conceptual layout of MPD, TPC design and it's parameters, the current status of the readout based on multiwire proportional chamber (MWPC) and readout electronics based on SAMPA chip as well as the status of TPC subsystems are presented.