News: WHO has announced that “COVID-19” will be the official name of the deadly Coronavirus from China. “Co” stands for “corona”, “vi” for “virus” and “d” for “disease”, while “19” was for the year, as the outbreak was first identified on December 31.
Facts:
Coronavirus:
- These are viruses belonging to a family known as Coronaviridae. They are zoonotic, meaning they are transmitted between animals and people
- They cause illness ranging from the common cold to more severe diseases such as Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS).
COVID-19 is a new strain of coronavirus that has not been previously identified in humans. It has been designated SARS-CoV-2 by the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses.
