What is COVID-19? COVID-19 is an illness that can affect your lungs and airways. It is caused by a new type of coronavirus known as SARS-COV-2. In COVID-19, ‘CO’ stands for ‘corona,’ ‘VI’ for ‘virus,’ and ‘D’ for disease.  How is it spread? People can catch COVID-19 from other people who have the virus (human-to-human transmission) through small ...