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Coronavirus latest: World Health Organisation officially names illness COVID-19
Source: EuroNews
Coronavirus latest: World Health Organisation officially names illness COVID-19
By Lauren Chadwick & Alessio Dell'Anna • last updated: 11/02/2020 - 17:02
The coronavirus that has killed more than 1,000 people has been named COVID-19, which is a revision on the former 2019-nCoV.
Its name was confirmed by the World Health Organisation's Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus during a daily briefing on the outbreak on Tuesday.
Discussing the reasons for the decision, he said: "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."
"Having a name matters to prevent the use of other names that can be inaccurate or stigmatising. It also gives us a standard format to use for any future coronavirus outbreaks."
-snip-
By Lauren Chadwick & Alessio Dell'Anna • last updated: 11/02/2020 - 17:02
The coronavirus that has killed more than 1,000 people has been named COVID-19, which is a revision on the former 2019-nCoV.
Its name was confirmed by the World Health Organisation's Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus during a daily briefing on the outbreak on Tuesday.
Discussing the reasons for the decision, he said: "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."
"Having a name matters to prevent the use of other names that can be inaccurate or stigmatising. It also gives us a standard format to use for any future coronavirus outbreaks."
Link to tweet
-snip-
Read more: https://www.euronews.com/2020/02/10/coronavirus-outbreak-uk-declares-virus-serious-and-imminent-threat-to-public-health
1 replies
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= new reply since forum marked as read
indicators. CDC tried to follow suit with the original rodent-borne Hantavirus and named it Muerto Canyon Virus for the location in the Southwest where original outbreak cases originated. Unfortunately naming a virus after a "Death Canyon" was not a good choice when working with Navajo and other Native Americans for whom discussing "death" is simply culturally unacceptable. So, they renamed it "SIN NOMBRE Virus" (no name virus)... A fascinating bit of trivia that underscores the need for sensitivity on these matters. 