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World Health Organization Names Coronavirus: COVID-19

A woman wearing a protective facemask walks behind Saint Valentine's decorations in a Bangkok mall.
A woman wearing a protective facemask walks behind Saint Valentine's decorations in a shopping mall in Bangkok on February 11, 2020. (Mladen Antonovo/AFP via Getty Images)

By    |   Tuesday, 11 February 2020 11:36 AM EST

The World Health Organization has officially given the coronavirus an official name: COVID-19, according to NBC News.

The name stands for the coronavirus disease that we discovered in 2019. The disease has sickened more than 42,000 people in China.

“We had to find a name that did not refer to a geographical location, an animal, or an individual or group of people,” WHO's director-general, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said.

NPR reported the name will apply for the “entire spectrum” of cases, from mild to severe.

Jeffrey Rodack

Jeffrey Rodack, who has nearly a half century in news as a senior editor and city editor for national and local publications, has covered politics for Newsmax for nearly seven years.

© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.


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The World Health Organization has officially given the coronavirus an official name: COVID-19, according to NBC News.
who, coronavirus, covid-19, china
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2020-36-11
Tuesday, 11 February 2020 11:36 AM
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