Researchers Identify Two Coronavirus Types As China Cases Dwindle

Scientists in China studying the coronavirus epidemic announced that they had identified two main types of diseases that could cause infections.

Researchers at the Beijing University School of Life Sciences and the Pasteur Institute of Shanghai under the Chinese Academy of Sciences cautioned that their study looked at a small range of data and said that follow-up studies with larger data sets are needed to better understand the evolution of the virus.

The preliminary study showed that a more violent type of new coronavirus correlated with the outbreak of Wuhan disease accounted for about 70 per cent of the strains studied, whereas 30 per cent was associated with a less aggressive type.

The prevalence of the more aggressive virus decreased after early January 2020, they said.

"These findings strongly support an urgent need for further immediate, comprehensive studies that combine genomic data, epidemiological data, and chart records of the clinical symptoms of patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)," they wrote.

Our results were reported in the National Science Review of the Chinese Academy of Sciences on Tuesday.

Also on Wednesday, one of China's leading medical groups reported that the mean coronavirus incubation period is between five and seven days and a lifetime of 14 days.

The revelations came amid a fall in new coronavirus cases following crippling restrictions imposed on the world's second-largest economy to stop its spread, including transport suspensions and the extension of the Lunar New Year holiday.

NEW CASES DOWN

Mainland China had 119 new confirmed cases of coronavirus on Tuesday, according to the National Health Commission, down from 125 the previous day, in a large pattern that saw the number of new cases dropping from mid-February.

The estimated number of cases on the mainland is now 80,270. The number of deaths decreased by 38, bringing the total toll for mainland China to 2,981 by 3 March.

All but one new death occurred in Hubei province, the epicenter of the outbreak.

With the number of new regular infections overseas already surpassing new cases in China, Chinese officials have begun to look at ways to control the spread of the virus outside of China and to prevent future outbreaks.

Authorities have told overseas Chinese wishing to return home to rethink their travel plans, while cities across the country have developed quarantine regulations for high-level entrants.

An affected person is known to have arrived in China from Iran, one of the latest hotspots of the virus, last week.

China is encouraging domestic producers of medical protective equipment to export protective suits to meet overseas demand as the virus spreads, Cao Xuejun, an official with China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology said in a press briefing in Beijing on Wednesday.

China's health authorities are also studying setting up emergency reserves for medical resources and protective materials, Mao Qunan, an official at China's National Health Commission said at the same briefing.

Source: Reuters