A new strain of coronavirus has been discovered in bats in China

In China, a new coronavirus, which has similarities with COVID-19, has been discovered in bats. This was reported by the South China Morning Post (SCMP) on February 21.

According to the publication, the virus is a new line of coronavirus HKU5, which was identified in Hong Kong in the Japanese nuthatch, which is a species of bat. It is noted that the virus isolated from bat specimens can be infectious to humans.

"Merbekoviruses of bats pose a high risk of spread to humans either through direct transmission or through intermediate hosts," - stated in the material.

It is specified that at this time is not expected to spread the virus. In addition, "more thorough research" should be carried out.

A bezel-less perspective: new drugs will protect against coronavirus and encephalitis

Russian scientists have found compounds effective against a large group of infections

Earlier, January 25, according to estimates of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) of the United States, the coronavirus (COVID-19) probably originated in the laboratory, not in nature. At the same time, the CIA is not sufficiently confident in its assessment of the causes of the virus: both scenarios - laboratory and natural origin of COVID - remain plausible.