Description
Coronaviruses are species of virus belonging to the subfamily Coronavirinae in the family Coronaviridae, in the order Nidovirales. Coronaviruses are enveloped viruses with a positive-sense single-stranded RNA genome. It is a large family of viruses widely existing in nature. Certain coronaviruses can infect humans and cause diseases, such as the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), whose symptoms can range from the common cold to severe lung infections.
The coronavirus first discovered in Wuhan, China in December 2019 is a virus strain that has not been previously found in humans and was named by the WHO as the 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV). On February 11, 2020, the virus was named "SARS-CoV-2" (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2) by Coronavirus Study Group (CSG) of the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses. The disease caused by the novel coronavirus was named "COVID-19" (Corona Virus Disease 2019) by the WHO.
Source: 2019nCoVR
, World health organization