Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
WHO Officially Names Strain Of Coronavirus COVID-19 In Effort To Combat Any Negative Connotations For China
The New York Times: Coronavirus Live Updates: The Illness Now Has A Name: COVID-19
The World Health Organization on Tuesday proposed an official name for the illness caused by the new coronavirus: COVID-19. The acronym stands for coronavirus disease 2019, as the illness was first detected toward the end of last year. (2/11)
Time: What's In A Name? Why WHO's Formal Name For The New Coronavirus Disease Matters
“Having a name matters to prevent the use of other names that can be inaccurate or stigmatizing,” said Director-General of the WHO, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. “It also gives us a standard format to use for any future coronavirus outbreaks.” The WHO referenced guidelines set in 2015 that ensure the name does not refer to a geographical location, an animal, an individual or group of people, while still being pronounceable and related to the disease. (Mansoor, 2/11)
NBC News: Coronavirus Gets Official Name From WHO: COVID-19
Naming an illness is not as easy or as straightforward as it might appear. The original name was nCoV-2019, which stood for novel coronavirus, discovered in 2019. It's like naming a child "son born in 2019." There are many different kinds of coronaviruses. Some cause mild illness, such as the common cold. Others cause deadly respiratory diseases, as has been illustrated by COVID-19. By Tuesday afternoon, COVID-19 had claimed the lives of more than 1,000 people, nearly all of them in China. (Edwards, 2/11)
The Associated Press: New Name For Disease Caused By Virus Outbreak: COVID-19
The new name comes from “coronavirus," the type of virus that causes the disease. Coronaviruses are a family of viruses that can cause the common cold and some more serious diseases, including SARS, which killed 800 in 2002-2003 and the Middle East respiratory syndrome, which continues to cause sporadic cases and is believed to jump to humans from camels. (2/11)
Stat: What Do You Call The Disease Caused By The Novel Coronavirus? Covid-19
Viruses and the disease they cause do not have to have related names — think HIV and AIDS — but more recently those responsible for the formal naming process have kept them associated. For example, SARS, the disease, is caused by SARS-CoV, the virus. (Joseph, 2/11)
