noun

• 1Medicine
  Any of a group of RNA viruses that cause a variety of respiratory, gastrointestinal, and neurological diseases in humans and other animals.

  ‘The greatest benefit appears to be in detecting rhinoviruses, coronaviruses, and parainfluenza viruses.’

  More example sentences

  • ‘The most frequently observed viruses were rhinoviruses followed by coronaviruses and respiratory syncytial virus.’
  • ‘SARs is believed to be a type of RNA virus called a coronavirus.’
  • ‘Alternatively, it may have derived from one or more unidentified animal coronaviruses that only recently mutated or recombined to create a human pathogen, he says.’
  • ‘Another possibility is that the human coronavirus acquired genes from another, more virulent virus.’

  1. 1.1A coronavirus responsible for an outbreak of serious respiratory disease in humans, especially the major pandemic beginning in 2019.

• 2Medicine
  A disease caused by a coronavirus, in particular Covid-19.

  ‘the impact of coronavirus is already being felt across the continent’

  More example sentences

  • ‘two more people have tested positive for coronavirus’
  • ‘the coronavirus outbreak led to growing travel restrictions’
  • ‘all three countries have seen a spike in coronavirus cases in recent weeks’