For many months now we have all had to live with the new coronavirus. The epidemic, which initially seemed to spread only in China, quickly became a global problem. In Italy we began to suffer the most serious consequences of the spread of the virus starting from March 2020. Soon the rest of Europe and the world also had to deal with this microscopic, but deadly enemy.
Scientists found themselves having to name the new disease that was spreading so rapidly around the planet, and chose to call it Covid-19.
But why this name? Is there a reason for their choice? That’s why the new virus is called Covid-19.
There are a lot of different coronaviruses
First of all, we must clarify that the name ‘coronavirus’ not only indicates the virus that is causing the current epidemic, but also indicates a family of many viruses. It also includes less serious viruses that we have known for a long time, such as that of the common cold. These viruses don’t just affect us humans: they are very common in many species of mammals and birds. The most likely hypothesis is that the new virus has infected us humans by making a species jump from bats.
Initially, the coronavirus that is spread around the world today was called ‘Chinese coronavirus’, or ‘Wuhan coronavirus’, named after the city where it was first identified.
But scientists soon needed to give the virus a more scientific name.
This is how the new name was born. That’s why the new virus is called Covid-19.
In reality, it is not the virus that is called Covid-19, but the disease it causes
In fact, Covid-19 is not the name of the virus.
Covid-19 is the name of the disease caused by the new coronavirus.
The real scientific name of the virus is SARS-CoV-2. This acronym stands for the English wording ‘Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2’, that is Coronavirus from Severe Respiratory Syndrome 2.
It is named to distinguish it from SARS-CoV 1, the virus that the public simply knows as SARS, another virus that first appeared in China in 2002.
The name Covid-19, instead, stands for Coronavirus Disease 2019, or coronavirus disease identified for the first time in 2019. That’s why the new virus is called Covid-19.
