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1) SARS-CoV-2 is the name of the virus causing the current pandemic, i.e. it causes COVID-19. Sometimes, it is also called the novel coronavirus, since it is a new strain of coronavirus (see no. 2 below) that has not been previously identified in humans. *** Side note: I have found conflicting information that this virus presents multiple strains. I am not a scientist, therefore I won’t take a position on this. I will, however, leave a few links: - The first two explain that there ARE not different strains. The first was published in the spring and the second this fall. - The third link takes you to a short summary of research (published in August) from the University of Bologna supporting the presence of multiple strains. 2) The term coronavirus is the common name for a family of viruses known to cause respiratory illnesses; the scientific name is Coronaviridae. Thus, it is a broader term than SARS-CoV-2. See the CDC's website for more. 3) Finally, COVID-19 (short term for COronaVIrus Disease 2019) is the name of the illness related to the current pandemic. It is caused by the above-mentioned virus, SARS-CoV-2.
Specifically, if you find a discrepancy between the source term and what is meant, let them know in a note. It is always best to communicate clearly with your client so that information is conveyed as accurately as possible across the translation process.
Link to a helpful glossary: At this time, many glossaries are available to translators and interpreters. The above link is to a blog post from a professional translation company that includes glossaries in many languages. I found the French/English glossary to be very accurate. Perhaps you will find something useful for your own work! Comments are closed.
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