Scientists caution on new Covid variant ‘NeoCov’; 1 in 3 infected people could die!

Jan. 28: Coronavirus seems to give the greatest shock to humanity in the present times. Coronaviruses are a large family of viruses that can cause diseases ranging from the common cold to Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS). Scientists have detected a new type of coronavirus, NeoCov, among bats in South Africa. Scientists from a lab in China’s Wuhan, where the SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes COVID-19 was first discovered, have reportedly warned that there is a probability that NeoCov, if it spreads among humans, could have a high death rate and high transmission rate.

According to the study, NeoCov can penetrate human cells in the same way as the COVID-19 virus. “NeoCov is only one mutation away from becoming dangerous for humans,” the researchers said in a yet-to-be peer-reviewed study posted on the preprint repository BioRxiv. The WHO said that it is aware of the development, but the virus requires further study to ascertain if it poses a risk to humans.

According to Chinese researchers, NeoCoV carries the potential combination of MERS-high CoV’s mortality rate (one in every three infected person dies) and the current SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus’s high transmission rate. The research findings stated that the novel coronavirus poses a risk because it binds to the ACE2 receptor differently than the coronavirus pathogen. As a result, neither antibodies nor protein molecules produced by people with respiratory diseases or who have been immunised can protect against NeoCoV.