Chinese Government: Call The Virus “NCP” For Now

The New York Times reports:

The Chinese government has announced a temporary name for the illness caused by the coronavirus, ordering the local authorities and state news media to adopt it. In English, it will be called NCP, for novel coronavirus pneumonia, the National Health Commission said on Saturday.

The naming of viral illnesses is a complicated matter that involves both science and public relations. Past names, like the Spanish flu or Rift Valley fever, have been seen as contributing to the stigmatization of countries or regions. In 2015, WHO issued new guidelines, after the choice of the name for Middle East respiratory syndrome, or MERS, was criticized.

As well as avoiding place names, those guidelines recommend not using people’s names (Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, Chagas disease), animal names (swine flu, equine encephalitis), cultural or occupational references (Legionnaires’ disease) or words that induce fear (unknown, death, fatal, epidemic).

I guess “Wuhan virus” is also not to be used now.