Novel, new, latest

What is the difference between novel coronavirus and new coronavirus, and which one should be official. 

When there is a new viral disease, three groups of experts work to describe it. The World Health Organization, or WHO, decides what to name the disease.

 Experts in the study of viruses decide what to name the virus. 

And, the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses, or ICTV, studies the genetics of the virus to learn how it might be related to other viruses.

COVID-19 is the cause of the current health crisis. CO stands for corona, VI stands for virus and D stands for disease. The WHO added the -19 because 2019 was the year it appeared.

The ICTV found that the virus was related to another virus that caused the SARS disease. That is why they called it SARS-CoV-2. That is the official name for the virus. It was different enough from any other virus to be called “novel.” 

Scientists speak of a virus they have not seen before as “novel.”

But “novel” and “new” before the word “coronavirus” mean the exact same thing. 

“Novel” and “new” are synonyms, different words that have the same, or very similar meaning, in a single language. Both novel and new can mean something that is unique or original or something not identified earlier. Novel is often used in connection with ideas, as in this Science News headline:

Tackling the novel coronavirus calls for novel ideas.

We often use “novel” to talk about a new way to solve a problem.

In both those examples “new” could replace “novel” without a loss of meaning. But novel can not always be used as a substitute for new. New is a more general term.

Often new is used to mean "latest." "Novel" would not work in those cases, either.

 See these examples:

The singer has released a new album, but critics say it sounds like all his other recording.

I put new paper in the printer.

The paper is not novel. Paper has been made in the same method and with the same materials for a long time.