Coronavirus Disease Formal Name Declared by WHO as COVID-19

In China, the coronavirus death toll has crossed 1,200 and the confirmed cases have gone up to 42,638. At the end of last month, the World Health Organization has declared the coronavirus outbreak to be a public health emergency and has also maintained that it poses a very severe threat for the rest of the world. The deadly virus is yet to be defined as an epidemic or pandemic, where an epidemic is the widespread occurrence of a disease in a particular region and pandemic is the global spread of disease.

However, the World Health Organization has declared an official name for the novel coronavirus as COVID-19 which stands for Coronavirus Disease 19.

Coronaviruses are a broad family of viruses and can cause illness ranging from the common cold to diseases such as SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) and MERS (Middle East Respiratory Syndrome). However, the novel coronavirus (CoV) is a new strain of coronavirus that has not been previously identified in humans and it first originated in Wuhan, China. While the coronavirus is said to be zoonotic in nature i.e. they jump from animals to humans but this CoV19 is spreading from person to person as well.

According to the World Health Organization, it is too early to make conclusive statements about the mortality rate of the COVID-19 and there are no clear reports indicating how dangerous coronavirus is. The public health officials are working round the clock to identify the source of this disease and they believe that symptoms can show up anywhere from 2 to 14 days after exposure.

Some of the symptoms of the COVID-19 include: Fever, Cough, Shortness of breath, Vomiting, Runny nose, and Sore throat.

WHO recommends that people who have cough, fever and difficulty breathing should seek medical care early. The best way to prevent infection is to avoid being exposed to this virus. Some of the other methods of prevention against COVID-19 include, avoid close contact with people who are sick, stay home if you are sick, keep alcohol-based cleansers and sanitizers handy, washing your hands regularly with lukewarm water for at least 20 seconds, especially after going to the washroom, clean and disinfect frequently touched objects and surfaces.