Coronavirus (COVID-19) Discussion Thread

[SvennoJ]

drkohler said:

Rab said:
Experts are starting to hint at the possibility that the virus will mutate like the common flu ..

There is no need to hint. An english university has done partial gene sequencing on various corona patients. It turns out they can separate people into types A, B, C. Mostly: Type A are people from the USA and China, Type B from Europe, Type C from other areas. Type A is closely related to the bat virus, while types B and C are mutations. Interestingly, people from the Wuhan region are NOT type A, putting into question that the virus actually originated from Wuhan bats.

Even as research is running on highest gears everywhere, the virus still mostly is a mystery.

There are at least 18 different strains already, all still small mutations, enough to track the virus but not to alter its behavior. Here is an animation of how the virus has spread over the world. https://nextstrain.org/ncov/global
It's not hard fact, just one interpretation of the data.