This is the 510th most frequent Chinese word.
冠状病毒
"Coronavirus" - a type of virus causing respiratory illnesses, including COVID-19.
In this sentence, '冠状病毒' is used as the subject to describe what type of organism is being referred to: a virus characterized by its corona (crown-like) structure.
冠状病毒是一种传染性极强的病毒。
Coronavirus is a highly infectious virus.
In this sentence, '冠状病毒' relates to the target of the research being conducted, representing the reason for the medical studies—emphasis is on the solutions to counteract it.
科学家们正在研究针对冠状病毒的疫苗。
Scientists are researching vaccines against the coronavirus.
Here, '冠状病毒' refers specifically to the cause of a global health concern, and it's contextualized as an object of the measures for containment.