‘Virus Only Found in Bats’
What we do know about NeoCov:
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NeoCoV is not a new virus, it was first found in 2014.
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The virus is only found in bats and has not infected or killed a human being so far.
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The new study, which talks about the NeoCoV’s potential to infect humans, is not peer-reviewed.
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NeoCoV is not a new variant of COVID-19
The data published by news organizations were based on a report published by Russian news agency Sputnik which neither called NeoCoV a variant of COVID-19 nor did it say that the virus has a fatality rate of 33 percent (1 in 3).
The Sputnik The report had said that since the NeoCov was closely related to the Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS-CoV), it can potentially have a mortality rate similar to that of MERS.
The Sputnik report also added a statement from the experts from the Vector Russian State Research Center of Virology and Biotechnology who clarified that the variant’s risk to humans required further research.
(With inputs from Quint FIT)
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