Coronavirus update: WHO names novel coronavirus as COVID-19

World Health Organisation (WHO) on Tuesday gave the new name to the deadly novel coronavirus that started in China as ‘COVID-19.’

The name was announced by WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on Twitter.

Tedros in his tweet said, “We now have a name for the disease caused by the novel coronavirus: COVID-19. where CO stands for Corona, VI for Virus, D for disease and 19 refers to the year 2019.”

“Having the name matters to prevent the use of other names that can be inaccurate or stigmatizing,” he tweeted.

Briefing more on the update, Tedros said, “We have activated the UN Crisis Management team, led by Dr. Mike Ryan, to ensure WHO focuses on the response to COVID-19 while other agencies look at the social, economic and developmental implications of an outbreak.”

“The first batch of vaccine would be ready in 18 months, in the meantime, there’s a lot to do to prevent transmission of the virus, and to prevent it from the further spread,” he added.

Earlier it was called by the WHO as 2019-nCoV acute respiratory disease, whereas China’s National Health Commission named it as coronavirus pneumonia.