WHO officially names new coronavirus disease as 'COVID-19'

12 Feb 2020

WHO officially names new coronavirus disease as ‘COVID-19’

WHO officially names new coronavirus disease as ‘COVID-19’On 11 February, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced that the official name of the new coronavirus disease - COVID-19.

WHO head Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that "co" stands for "corona", "vi" for "virus" and "d" for "disease", while "19" was for the year, as the outbreak was first identified on 31 December 2019.
 	They chose the name to avoid references to a specific geographical location, animal species or group of people.
 	Under a set of guidelines issued in 2015, WHO advises against using place names such as Ebola and Zika or animal-related names like swine flu. These can have lingering negative effects on the names associated with the disease. It also does not use people's names.
 	The virus itself has been designated SARS-CoV-2 by the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses.

What is the latest update on COVID-19?

The number of confirmed cases has increased to around 45,000 globally and the number of deaths has crossed 1100.
 	Millions of people in China are heading back to work soon when the long Lunar Year holiday ends and the government will introduce new precautions to contain the disease.
 	About 400 scientists are taking part in the two-day international meeting in Geneva, Switzerland to review how the virus is transmitted and possible vaccines against it.
 	It is important to understand how it started and how it is being spread before it can be stopped.
 	WHO is also urging countries to share data which can help further research into the disease.

Scientists in Australia, UK, China, France, Germany and the US are working to quickly develop a vaccine.

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On 11 February, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced that the official name of the new coronavirus disease – COVID-19. WHO head Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus […]

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