This publication is regularly updated. The present version is accurate as of May 7, 2020.

The research emphasizes the need for and the importance of studying world’s best practices of support of businesses and citizens that found themselves in a difficult situation due the coronavirus in order to identify optimal and most viable examples for further implementation.

The review describes characteristics and measures of state support of people in difficult situations because of the virus and of small and medium-sized businesses; it also identifies the priority areas for improving state policies regarding the development of SMEs. The structure of the document corresponds to the spread of 2019-nCoV in the world, from the infection focal point — China in the Northeast Asia — to African countries that for a while were on the periphery of the fight against the virus. Special attention is paid to the countries that have suffered the most (Italy, Iran, the US) and that have been remarkably efficient in fighting the outbreak (Republic of Korea, Singapore). As of now, the research has covered practices of more than 20 countries.