“COVID-19” is the World Health Organization’s official name for a disease (hence the “D”) caused by a coronavirus (hence “COV”) that was discovered in late 2019 (hence the number). As with “AIDS” and “HIV,” there’s a different official name for the illness (COVID-19) and the actual virus that causes it (SARS-CoV-2). You’ll also see people calling it the novel coronavirus (because it’s new) or just the coronavirus. “Wuhan virus” gradually fell out of use once the disease spread beyond the city of Wuhan, where it was first reported, to other parts of China and Asia, and then to the Americas, Europe and the Middle East.
Check the WHO’s information page for more details on the virus, and The Globe and Mail’s guide of what health officials say is helpful for the public to do or not do about it.
Also read our essential resources about the pandemic, and be sure to keep updated with the rules in your province.
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