New coronavirus named Covid-19

Credit to Author: Tempo Desk| Date: Wed, 12 Feb 2020 02:36:37 +0000

By ANALOU DE VERA

The new coronavirus that afflicted thousands of people has officially been named as “Covid-19,” the World Health Organization (WHO) announced.

“Under agreed guidelines between WHO, the World Organization for Animal Health, and the Food and Agriculture Organization, we had to find a name that did not refer to a geographical location, an animal, an individual or group of people, and which is also pronounceable and related to the disease,” said WHO-Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus in a press briefing in Geneva, Switzerland which was broadcasted live on the official Twitter page of the organization.

Ghebreyesus said that “CO” stands for corona, “VI” stands for virus, and “D” for disease while “19” stands for the year 2019. To note, the new coronavirus was detected last December in the City of Wuhan in China’s Hubei province.

“Having a name matters to prevent the use of other names that can be inaccurate or stigmatizing. It also gives us a standard format to use for any future coronavirus outbreaks,” said Ghebreyesus.

The new strain of coronavirus was previously referred to as 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) and  2019 novel coronavirus acute respiratory disease (2019-nCoV ARD).

VACCINE

The WHO official said that the development of a possible vaccine for the new coronavirus is now underway, saying that the vaccine might be available in 18 months.

“The development of vaccines and therapeutics is one important part of the research agenda – but it is only one part. They will take time to develop, but in the meantime, we are not defenceless. There
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