COVID-19(corona virus disease of 2019.)
WHAT'S IN THE NAME? COVID-19 is the name given by the World Health Organization (WHO) on February 11, 2020 for the disease caused by the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. It started in Wuhan, China in late 2019 and has since spread worldwide. COVID-19 is an acronym that stands for co rona vi rus d isease of 20 19 . Why was the coronavirus renamed to COVID-19? The WHO press release of February 11 explained why a new name was needed for this disease: “to enable discussion on disease prevention, spread, transmissibility, severity, and treatment.” Diseases are officially named by WHO in the International Classification of Diseases (ICD). For COVID-19, the name was decided based on agreed guidelines between the WHO, the World Organization for Animal Health, and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. The name, and its abbreviation, was chosen because it didn’t refer to a specific geographic location, a specific animal, or a specific group of people. It also had to