COVID-19: CoronaVirus Disease 2019

The full form of COVID-19 is “CoronaVirus Disease 2019“. CO stands for Corona, VI stands for Virus, D stands for Disease, and 19 stands for 2019. Since the disease was identified in December 2019. The name Covid-19 was announced on February 11 by the World Health Organization (WHO). The director-general, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said:

We had to find a name that does not refer to a geographical location, an animal, an individual or a group of people, and that is also pronounced and related to the disease. Having a name is important to avoid using other names that may be inaccurate or stigmatizing

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is an infectious disease caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS coronavirus 2 or SARS-CoV-2), a virus closely related to the SARS virus. The infection is transmitted from one person to another through respiratory droplets produced from the airways, usually when coughing or sneezing. Because it is viral pneumonia, antibiotics are useless.

Covid-19 was first found in Wuhan, China, in December 2019, and affected more than 4,00,000 people in more than 150 countries around the world, causing more than 17,000 deaths. Those affected by Covid-19 may suffer from cough, fever, and shortness of breath. A sore throat, runny nose or sneezing is less common. In severe cases, organ failure may occur. The mortality rate seems to be around 2%. By comparison, seasonal flu generally has a mortality rate of less than 1% and is believed to cause about 400,000 deaths each year worldwide. SARS had a mortality rate of over 10%.