Coronavirus Latest: Brighton and global websites
Coronavirus Latest: Guide to where to get your information
The coronavirus is still spreading across the globe, and there is a wealth of information monitoring the outbreak, from websites giving all cases notified; all people hospitalised, and numbers of those who have died from the COVID19 disease around the world, to websites issuing the latest public health advice.
Below is a guide to the websites with official information:
Brighton & Hove City Council – Coronavirus (Covid-19) Excellent local guide which is clear and reassuring and gives advice to all parts of the community
https://new.brighton-hove.gov.uk/coronavirus-covid-19
UK Government – latest information and advice from Public Health England and the Department of Health and Social Care
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/wuhan-novel-coronavirus-information-for-the-public
World Health Organisation – Daily updates about Coronavirus Disease (Covid-19) outbreak
https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019
The WHO website includes a handy myth-busters page
https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/advice-for-public/myth-busters
Worldometer – Number of cases by country including numbers of those who have recovered
https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/
Some may be confused by the names given to the new coronavirus. Here is a guide:
2019 Novel Coronavirus
The initial name given to the virus once it was first identified, which indicates it is a new type of coronavirus. Coronaviruses are common throughout the world and some usually cause mild to moderate respiratory illnesses such as the common cold. SARS identified in 2002 stands for severe acute respiratory syndrome and is caused by a coronavirus called SARS-CoV. Since 2004 there have not been any known cases of SARS reported. MERS is another serious coronavirus identified in 2012. This stands for Middle East respiratory syndrome.
2019-nCoV
An abbreviation of 2019 Novel Coronavirus. This is the name preferred by the World Health Organisation in their global communications.
COVID-19
This is the name of the disease or illness the virus causes. Based on COronaVIrusDisease2019
“We had to find a name that did not refer to a geographical location, an animal, an individual, or a group of people, and which is also pronounceable and related to the disease,” said Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the director-general of the WHO. This disease name is popularly used for the virus in a lot of the world’s media including the BBC.
SARS-Cov2
There is a naming convention for viruses, and this virus has now been named by the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses (ICTV). Their reasons for calling it this is summed up by this quote:
“The present outbreak of lower respiratory tract infections, including respiratory distress syndrome, is the third spillover, in only two decades, of an animal coronavirus to humans resulting in a major epidemic.”
Many are not happy with this name due to the word SARS and connotations of a more deadly disease, harking back to the 2002/2003 outbreak of SARS. The WHO and many media will not use the correct virus name for this reason in public health messages, to avoid misunderstandings and more global panic.
Science Magazine – Article about the naming of the virus and disease
Angi Mariani
Originator of Immunos v. Pathos
