Newly discovered virus could be ‘3 times more deadly’ than Covid
Chinese researchers have discovered a new type of coronavirus in bats that could be three times more deadly than Covid-19, Public Health Commission vice chairman Chalermchai Boonyaleephan said on Monday.
NeoCov may pose a threat to humans if it mutates further, according to researchers from Wuhan University, who discovered the virus in bats from South Africa.
The new virus is genetically closer to MERS-CoV than it is to either SARS or the coronavirus that causes Covid-19, SARS-CoV-2.
NeoCov could be given the name MERS-CoV-2, explained Chalermchai.
He added that it threatened to become “Covid-22” if a mutation makes it infectious for humans.
In this scenario, it could cause symptoms three times more deadly than Covid-19, he said, citing the 30 per cent mortality rate of MERS.
"Covid-22 would kill 17 million people, compared to Covid-19 which has killed 5.67 million.”
On Friday, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said the new virus requires further study as soon as possible.
Chalermchai said WHO is seeking definitive answers on whether NeoCoV can or will in future infect humans.
The Wuhan University scientists who discovered NeoCov say the virus in its current form cannot attach to the ACE2 receptor that allows Covid-19 virus to infect human cells.
