A team of scientists working on the origin of the deadly coronavirus that spread globally from Wuhan, has found nearly two dozen unknown bat coronaviruses. These were found within a short area of just four sq km in southwestern China.
Four of these viruses were related to the strain that caused Covid-19.
The new discoveries were reported by the South China Morning Post (SCMP) through a scientific paper published last week. The latest research was conducted by Professor Shi Weifong of Shandong First Medical University.
The outbreak of the coronavirus infection in China around December 2019, has led to speculation that the virus has been transmitted to humans from bats. There has been a global focus on Chinese scientists who have been spending time in caves researching bats, putting themselves perilously close to getting the infections, often without adequate protection.
Shi's research team, which was surprised by their discovery, warned that the discovery of so many unknown species of viruses in such a small area was unexpected. China has been pushing a lot of research into bats and various researches have shown that viruses are constantly evolving and new ones are continually emerging.
The SCMP article said that tropical areas with hot climate and abundant wildlife are hotspots for new viruses to emerge and proliferate.
The spread of the novel coronavirus from Wuhan had two possible sources – a seafood market where a major cluster of outbreaks had occurred, and also the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV), where a few global scientists alleged the virus had escaped from.
The spread of the virus and China's secretive behaviour around it led to a downward spiral of China's foreign relations. Former US President Donald Trump began calling it the "China Virus'' while countries like Australia wanted an independent international investigation into its origins.
The Worldometers website says global Covid-19 infections have touched 120,831,287, with deaths touching 2,673,695 while 97,475,831 people have recovered.
