Coronavirus gets official name Covid-19

UN agencies have decided to name the novel coronavirus "Covid-19," the World Health Organisation (WHO) says.

Under the guidelines of the WHO, the World Organisation for Animal Health and the Food and Agriculture Organisation, the name for the new virus could not refer to specific geographical locations, animals or people.

"Having a name matters to prevent the use of other names that can be inaccurate or stigmatising," WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a press conference in Geneva.