COVID-19 is caused by SARS-CoV-2, a coronavirus. Coronaviruses are a large family of viruses common to humans, and many different animal species, including camels, cattle, cats, and bats. It can be transmitted from person to person within 6 feet via respiratory droplets. The virus can survive on some surfaces for days, too. ‘CO’ stands in COVID-19 for ‘corona,’ ‘VI’ for ‘virus,’ and ‘D’ for disease. This disease was formerly called “2019 novel coronavirus” or “2019-nCoV.” So, what is the natural origin of the COVID-19 pandemic responsible for the novel coronavirus? It first appeared in Wuhan, a city in China’s Hubei province. 
But where it from or how it creates, the researchers don’t yet have a definite response. But there are two possible scenarios they do offer.
In the first example, when the latest coronavirus developed in its natural habitats, probably bats or pangolins, its spike proteins adapted to attach molecules identical in structure to the human ACE2 protein, thereby enabling it to invade human cells. This scenario appears to match other recent outbreaks of human-caused coronavirus disease, such as SARS from cat-like civets; and Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS), which originated from camels.
The second scenario is that before it became capable of causing human disease, the new coronavirus crossed animals into humans. Then, the virus gradually acquired the capacity to spread from human-to-human and inflict extreme, often life-threatening diseases as a result of incremental evolutionary changes over the years or even decades.
Some folks are even making outrageous claims that the new coronavirus causing the pandemic was engineered in a lab and deliberately released to make people sick like a bioweapon.
What is important is we need to protect ourselves and help to slow the curve by practicing social distancing, and supporting the efforts of all the dedicated health-care professionals and researchers who are working so hard to address this major public health challenge.
References
“Coronavirus (COVID-19) Frequently Asked Questions.” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 12 May 2020, www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/faq.html#:~:text=In%20COVID%2D19%2C,%2Drespiratory%20tract%20illnesses.
“Genomic Study Points to Natural Origin of COVID-19.” National Institutes of Health, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 26 Mar. 2020, directorsblog.nih.gov/2020/03/26/genomic-research-points-to-natural-origin-of-covid-19/.
Holly Secon, Aylin Woodward. “A Comprehensive Timeline of the New Coronavirus Pandemic, from China’s First Case to the Present.” Business Insider, Business Insider, 21 May 2020, www.businessinsider.com/coronavirus-pandemic-timeline-history-major-events-2020-3#january-1-2020-chinese-authorities-closed-huanan-seafood-wholesale-market-2.
Holly Secon, Aylin Woodward. “A Comprehensive Timeline of the New Coronavirus Pandemic, from China’s First COVID-19 Case to the Present.” Business Insider, Business Insider, 4 May 2020, www.businessinsider.com/coronavirus-pandemic-timeline-history-major-events-2020-3#december-31-2019-chinese-health-officials-informed-the-world-health-organization-about-a-cluster-of-41-patients-with-a-mysterious-pneumonia-most-were-connected-to-the-huanan-seafood-wholesale-market-a-wet-market-in-the-city-of-wuhan-1.
