Peng Zhou (virologist)

Peng Zhou, Xing-Lou Yang, Xian-Guang Wang and colleagues led by Zheng-Li Shi at the CAS Key Laboratory of Special Pathogens, Wuhan Institute of Virology, Center for Biosafety Mega-Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, published the first description of the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 (previously called 2019-nCoV). COVID-19 is the abbreviated name for coronavirus disease 2019, the respiratory disease caused by SARS-CoV-2. COVID-19 was first detected in Wuhan City, China and the outbreak was declared a public health emergency of international concern on January 30, 2020 by the World Health Organization (WHO).