The novel coronavirus disease has an official name.
World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on Tuesday announced the title: COVID-19.
“Having a name matters to prevent the use of other names that can be inaccurate or stigmatizing,” Tedros said during a press conference. “It also gives us a standard format to use for any future coronavirus outbreaks.”
Based on agreed guidelines, the label must not refer to a geographical location, animal, individual, or group of people. And should be pronounceable and related to the disease.
COVID-19 is a mashup of the words “corona,” “virus,” and “disease”—with 2019 representing the year it emerged. Identified in late December, novel coronavirus was initially linked to a wholesale animal and fish market in Wuhan, the largest city in central China.
Symptoms include fever, cough, and trouble breathing—which are also handily associated with chest infection, bronchitis, pneumonia, and a number of other diagnoses.
The affliction is also known as SARS-CoV-2, according to the Coronavirus Study Group (part of the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses), which is responsible for naming the coronavirus itself.
This week’s christening comes as the coronavirus death toll surpasses 1,000; more than 43,000 cases have been reported in China and abroad.
Among other efforts to contain and stop the COVID-19 outbreak, WHO is hosting more than 400 scientists in Geneva to discuss ways to combat the disease.
“The main outcome we expect from this meeting is not immediate answers to every question,” Tedros said. “The main outcome is an agreed roadmap on what questions we need to ask, and how we will go about answering those questions.”
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed the first U.S. case of novel coronavirus in January—a Washington state man in his 30s who had recently returned from Wuhan, China.
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