The epidemic has spread quickly across the globe in 2020 and we want to make sure that news sources are capitalizing the disease correctly when reporting on it.
Is COVID-19 Capitalized?
As we did in our headline on this page, the official abbreviated name of the virus should be written in all capital letters as in “COVID-19” which is short for “coronavirus disease 2019.” This according to guidance by the CDC.
This is also true for the official name of the disease “SARS-CoV-2” except that the “o” in this name is lowercase.
Other coronavirus diseases in the past that are also capitalized include “SARS” (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) and “MERS” (Middle East Respiratory Syndrome).
Is Coronoavirus Capitalized?
The word “coronavirus” can refer to a number of different viruses ranging from the common cold to the 2019 novel coronavirus. Since there are a number of coronavirus variants, coronavirus is usually lowercase except when used in a headline.
Even when referring to the novel (new) coronavirus, you should not capitalize coronavirus unless used in a headline or abbreviated to “COVID-19.”
Read More:
- Are you an educator? Many online learnings companies are giving away their services for free to those impacted by coronavirus.
- Stuck at home during the outbreak? Read our best tips for working from home.
- Are diseases capitalized?
To learn more about proper title capitalization rules, give our free title capitalization tool a try.
