Thanks. Just checked. You are correct athough it does not cause COVID-19. It is the proper scientific name for COVID-19. They are one and the same virus. I didn't realise that when I read the paper. I thought it was a closely related virus.
In the document I read about the naming they also mention that it is expected to mutate into a low-pathogenic or non-pathogenic virus.
Technically, COVID-19 is the disease caused by SARS-CoV-2 virus, but you are right that COVID-19 is now commonly used for both by experts and laymen alike — it’s just an easier shorthand because the distinction is not important for most reporting / discussion. It’s important for scientific distinction, though.
More information here:
https://www.who.int/emergencies/dis...ase-(covid-2019)-and-the-virus-that-causes-it
Why do the virus and the disease have different names?
Viruses, and the diseases they cause, often have different names. For example, HIV is the virus that causes AIDS. People often know the name of a disease, such as measles, but not the name of the virus that causes it (rubeola).
There are different processes, and purposes, for naming viruses and diseases.
Viruses are named based on their genetic structure to facilitate the development of diagnostic tests, vaccines and medicines. Virologists and the wider scientific community do this work, so viruses are named by the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses (ICTV).
Diseases are named to enable discussion on disease prevention, spread, transmissibility, severity and treatment. Human disease preparedness and response is WHO’s role, so diseases are officially named by WHO in the International Classification of Diseases (ICD).
ICTV announced “severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2)” as the name of the new virus on 11 February 2020. This name was chosen because the virus is genetically related to the coronavirus responsible for the SARS outbreak of 2003. While related, the two viruses are different.
WHO announced “COVID-19” as the name of this new disease on 11 February 2020, following guidelines previously developed with the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).
