Going by how scary coronavirus is, some people start it with capital letters when writing. This need not be because capitalisation is not determined by the gravity or sound – or length – of a word.
Were it so, many of us would always write ‘death’ as DEATH! I believe you know why.
Normally, it is only proper nouns that begin with capital letters. These include names of people, ethnic groups, countries, cities, towns, villages, religions, languages, days, months, festivals, rivers etc. Unfortunately, some of us carelessly start some of these with capital letters while beginning common nouns with the capital. This is a symptom of immaturity that urgently requires a cure.
Another aspect of the naming of the pandemic is that it is so called based on the shape of the virus – like a corona, that is, a crown. This is what makes its grammatical status different from that of the like of Spanish flu and Ebola. By virtue of their being attached to places that are proper nouns, they enjoy the status of proper nouns and are thus begun with capital letters. In the case of coronavirus, however, it remains a common noun as it is just linked to another common noun – corona.
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