The common cold is a coronavirus. There's also a few other strains of coronavirus, one of which is pretty lethal for older people. Covid-19 is a new coronavirus. It is new. To say covid-19 isn't new because the common cold is a coronavirus too is like saying a cold sore and genital herpes are the same since they're both herpesvirus. Covid-19, or SARS-Cov-2, is more closely related to SARS than the common cold and we can all be massively relieved it isn't as lethal. Though SARS wasn't nearly as infectious.