Why is a new coronavirus called a new coronavirus? Coronavirus is a large family of viruses, including the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) that emerged in 2003 and the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) that emerged later, which are all new coronaviruses. coronavirus, referred to as new coronavirus. The coronavirus was first discovered in the 1930s, and 1/3 of the common cold in humans is actually caused by the coronavirus, and because the outer surface of this virus resembles a coronary protrusion, the coronary structure can be seen under an electron microscope, so it gets the name coronavirus, and the emerging coronavirus is referred to as the new coronavirus.