---
title: "The WHO Finally Gives the Coronavirus an Official Name"
description: "The World Health Organization announced a new official name for the coronavirus that recently emerged from China: Covid-19."
date: "2020-02-11"
modified: "2020-02-11"
authors:
  - name: "Dan Robitzski"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/danrobitzski"
url: "https://futurism.com/neoscope/who-coronavirus-official-name"
categories:
  - "Developments"
  - "Health & Medicine"
  - "Medical"
  - "Pathogens"
  - "Viruses"
tags:
  - "coronavirus"
  - "covid-19"
  - "WHO"
---

# The WHO Finally Gives the Coronavirus an Official Name

![The World Health Organization announced a new official name for the coronavirus that recently emerged from China: Covid-19.](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/coronavirus-official-name-covid-19.jpg>)
*\<em\>Image: Scientific Animations/Victor Tangermann\</em\>*

On Tuesday, the World Health Organization announced an official name for the coronavirus that's been sweeping the world: Covid-19.

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus announced the new name at a press conference, *[CNBC](<https://www.cnbc.com/2020/02/11/world-health-organization-names-the-new-coronavirus-covid-19.html>)*[ reports](<https://www.cnbc.com/2020/02/11/world-health-organization-names-the-new-coronavirus-covid-19.html>) — finally granting an official moniker to an outbreak that's been described by a slew of imperfect names and titles.

Like 2019-nCoV, which is the previous name officials tentatively used for the disease, Covid-19 is an acronym. The "Co" is for corona, "vi" is for virus, "d" is for disease, and 19 represents the year in which the outbreak began.

The WHO's goal was to get a specific title for the outbreak — the colloquial "coronavirus" refers to a broad category of diseases — that also doesn't trigger xenophobic attitudes against China or people of Asian descent.

"Having a name matters to prevent the use of other names that can be inaccurate or stigmatizing," Tedros said at the conference, per *CNBC*. "It also gives us a standard format to use for any future coronavirus outbreak."

In particular, the WHO wants the name to stick on social media, where [racist fearmongering](<https://futurism.com/neoscope/what-its-like-live-coronavirus-quarantine>) rapidly took hold. The idea is that having an official, specific name to use may give people a better alternative to some of the less sensitive descriptions of the disease, *CNBC* reports.

For example, WHO officials called out disease names like "swine flu" and "Middle East Respiratory Syndrome" as particularly stigmatizing, and they're hoping that the name Covid-19 prevents similar problems this time around.

## Author
Dan Robitzki is a senior reporter for Futurism, where he likes to cover AI, tech ethics, and medicine. He spends his extra time fencing and streaming games from Los Angeles, California.

### Author social links  
[Twitter](<https://x.com/danrobitzski>)