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Why is it called COVID-19?

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“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 China 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.

Check the WHO’s information page for more details on the virus, and The Globe and Mail’s page of essential resources for the latest news. We also have dedicated data pages to keep track of the latest numbers of COVID-19 cases and vaccinations nationwide.

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