Nagpur: Scientists of Wuhan, China have warned about a new strain of Covid-19 termed the ‘NeoCov’ with a ‘higher death rate.’
According to several reports, the NeoCoV is not new. The scientists have issued several warnings about the NeoCoV, a mutation related to the Middle Eastern respiratory syndrome MERS-CoV that is linked to outbreaks in the Middle East in 2012 and 2015.
The NeoCoV was discovered in a bat population in South Africa and has only been known to spread among these animals as per an unpeered study published on the bioRxiv website. The report has also stated that the researchers have found that the mortality rate of the NeoCoV virus is extremely high—one in every three infected individuals.
The Russian State Virology and Biotechnology Research Centre in a statement said, “The Vector research center 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.”
Currently, in India, as per the experts, the Omicron variant which was first discovered in South Africa has overtaken the Delta variant to become the dominant strain in the country. The transmissibility of the variant is higher but the mortality rate remains less as compared to the Delta variant.
However, the World Health Organisation (WHO) hasn’t commented about the NeoCoV and stressed that increased vaccination has been the reason behind the reduced mortality and hospitalization due to the Omicron variant.
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