Report: NeoCoV coronavirus strain can kill 1 in 3 people

Scientists in China (https://bit.ly/3s09z4X), where the coronavirus
was first detected, have warned of finding a new strain in Africa –
NeoCoV. They have claimed that the death rate in NeoCoV is very
high, according to a report by the Russian news agency Sputnik.
The report mentioned that the strain is not new. Associated with the
MERS-CoV virus, it was discovered in outbreaks in Middle Eastern
countries in 2012 and 2015 and is similar to the the SARS-CoV-2,
which causes coronavirus in humans.
NeoCoV is found mainly among the bats and spread only in the
species. But a new study published as a preprint on the bioRxiv
website discovered that NeoCoV and its close relative PDF-2180-CoV
can infect humans.
According to researchers from Wuhan University and the Chinese
Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Biophysics, only one mutation is
required for the virus to infiltrate human cells.
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.
Following a briefing on NeoCoV, experts from the Russian State
Virology and Biotechnology Research Center issued a statement on
Thursday, the report stated.
“The Vector research centre is aware of the data obtained by Chinese
researchers on the NeoCoV coronavirus. At the moment, the issue is
not the emergence of a new coronavirus capable of actively spreading
among humans," it said, adding that the potential risks outlined
needed to be studied and probed further.