Express & Star

LETTER: Why the name coronavirus?

A reader shares some Covid-19 information.

Published
Last updated
Where did name of virus originate?

Everywhere you look; TV news programmes, supermarkets, chemists etc. All have the same topic, and rightly so, coronavirus.

This is a deadly disease and we all must do our part to eradicate it, staying at home where necessary, keeping to the two metre distance etc.

A lot of you may know where the name Covid-19 originated. I admit I had to look up the meaning and was surprised how it was made up.

How it is made up is ‘co’ from corona, ‘vi’ virus, ‘d’ from disease and 19 from the year it started 2019 = Covid-19.

Another bit of information I found out was that when the scientists looking at the virus under a microscope felt its distinctive spiky surface looked like a crown, or corona in Latin, hence the name coronavirus

Finally may I ask you to make sure your elderly neighbours are well looked after especially those who cannot go to the shops themselves and keep yourselves safe and well.

Barry Jones, Woodsetton