New Coronavirus

 

Scientists Discover New Coronavirus Similar to COVID-19 in Thailand - Jewish Press Scientists have discovered a new coronavirus virus with a 91.5 percent similarity to the genetic code of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. The new virus, named RacCS203, was discovered by a research team led by Lin-Fa Wang of the University of Singapore. It was found in horseshoe bats kept in an artificial cave in a wildlife sanctuary in Thailand. The scenario is strikingly similar to that in which the bats infected with the deadly COVID-19 coronavirus were discovered by a research team in the province of Yunnan, China. The RacCS203 virus is also related to a second new coronavirus named RmYN02. RmYN02, like SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19), is also found in the horseshoe bats who live in the caves of Yunnan, China, according to a report by the researchers published this week in Nature Communications. RmYN02 is an even closer match to COVID-19, with a 93.6 percent similarity to the SARS-CoV-2 genome, researchers said. The differences between the viruses are found in the spike protein, according to the report in Nature Communications. The researchers said they believe it is impossible for the new virus to infect human cells because of those differences. Let us hope and pray they are correct.