Let’s talk virus taxonomy! While this may feel a bit irrelevant this far out from discovery, it never hurts to remember (or learn for the first time) that SARS-CoV-2, while a new virus, is closely related to several other already discovered ones. This information is incredibly useful for our research toward developing a vaccine and understanding the virus pathology.
Just like the animal kingdom, there are several classification levels in the virus world. The official classification is standardized through the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses (ICTV). Newly discovered viruses are evaluated based on genomic sequence and key characteristics or properties to decide who the closest relatives are and what it should be named.
Family: coronaviridae
Subfamily: coronavirinae
Genus: betacoronavirus