What Does COVID-19 Stand For?
Key takeaways:
COVID-19 is short for “coronavirus disease of 2019.”
The World Health Organization (WHO) named the virus that causes COVID-19 “severe acute respiratory syndrome 2,” or SARS-CoV-2.
This virus that causes COVID-19 is called a “novel coronavirus” because it had never been seen before 2019.
When someone mentions “COVID” these days, they’re usually referring to COVID-19. COVID-19 is the contagious infectious disease that has affected millions of people around the world. Ever wonder where the name “COVID-19” came from? Let’s take a look.
What does COVID-19 stand for in its full form?
COVID-19 is the name of the disease caused by the SARS-CoV2 virus. Viruses and the diseases they cause have different names. For example, AIDS is the disease caused by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV).
COVID-19 is an acronym. In its full form, COVID-19 stands for COronaVIrus Disease of 2019.
Who named COVID-19?
In a press conference on February 11, 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) gave the coronavirus disease of 2019 the abbreviated name of COVID-19.
What is the origin of the ‘COVID-19’ abbreviation?
On December 31, 2019, a strange new pneumonia of unknown cause was reported to the Chinese WHO Country Office. A cluster of these cases originally appeared in Wuhan, a city in the Hubei Province of China. These infections were found to be caused by a new coronavirus, which was given the name “2019 novel coronavirus” (2019-nCoV).
It was later renamed “severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2,” or SARS-CoV-2 by the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses on February 11, 2020. It was named SARS-CoV-2 because the virus is a genetic cousin of the coronavirus that caused the SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) outbreak in 2002 (SARS-CoV).
The unofficial name for the virus is “the COVID-19 virus.”
Why was the coronavirus renamed to COVID-19?
According to the WHO, diseases are named “to enable discussion on disease prevention, spread, transmissibility, severity, and treatment.” After a disease is named, it’s officially listed in the International Classification of Diseases (ICD).
At a February 11, 2020 press conference, the WHO announced that the name “COVID-19” was 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 were chosen because they didn’t refer to a specific geographic location, a specific animal, or a specific group of people. It also had to be easy to pronounce and related to the disease.
What is a coronavirus?
Coronaviruses are common human and animal viruses. The name “coronavirus” comes from the crown-like spikes on the surface of the virus.
Illness caused by a coronavirus was first discovered in domestic poultry in the 1930s. In animals, coronaviruses cause a range of respiratory, gastrointestinal, liver, and neurologic diseases.
Only seven coronaviruses are known to cause disease in humans:
Four human coronaviruses cause symptoms of the “common cold”: 229E, OC43, NL63, and HUK1.
Three human coronaviruses can cause much more serious infections: SARS-CoV in 2002, MERS-CoV in 2012 (Middle East respiratory syndrome), and SARS-CoV-2 (the virus causing the most recent pandemic, COVID-19).
You can learn more about COVID-19 in our guide.
What is a novel coronavirus?
A “novel” coronavirus refers to a new coronavirus that hasn’t been previously identified in humans. This means it’s different from coronaviruses that cause the common cold and those that caused SARS in 2002 and MERS in 2012.
Like SARS and MERS, the novel coronavirus is a zoonotic disease. A zoonotic disease refers to a disease that starts in animals and gets transmitted from animals to people.
The bottom line
COVID-19 stands for “coronavirus disease of 2019.” COVID-19 a highly contagious disease that has spread to every country in the world. The WHO chose the name “COVID-19” for its easy pronunciation and because it doesn’t refer to a particular country, animal, or group of people.
Why trust our experts?
References
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2017). Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS).
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2019). Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS).
McIntosh, K. (1974). Coronaviruses: A comparative review. Current Topics in Microbiology and Immunology / Ergebnisse der Mikrobiologie und Immunitätsforschung.
World Health Organization. (n.d.). Coronavirus disease (COVID-19).
World Health Organization. (2020). Coronavirus press conference 11 February, 2020.
World Health Organization. (2020). WHO Director-General's remarks at the media briefing on 2019-nCoV on 11 February 2020.
