People in Beijing wear masks while waiting in line at the grocery store.
(Image credit: Kevin Frayer/Getty Images)

In an attempt to avoid stigma, the World Health Organization has come up with a new name for the coronavirus illness now affecting people in 25 countries: COVID-19, which stands for "coronavirus disease 2019."

Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus tweeted on Tuesday that WHO "had to find a name that does not refer to a geographical location, an animal, an individual, or group of people, and which is also pronounceable and related to the disease."

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.