NeoCov variant symptoms, cases and recovery rate; all you need to know

Scientists from China's Wuhan, where the first-ever COVID-19 case was reported, have warned about a new type of Coronavirus called NeoCov, discovered in South Africa. The NeoCov strain has a high infection and death rate, posing the threat of high fatality scientists said, according to Russian news agency Sputnik. How dangerous is the new Coronavirus and can it affect humans? Here's what we know so far about the highly infectious virus.

NeoCov: Not a new virus

As per reports, NeoCov is not a new virus but is associated with the MERS-CoV virus which was first discovered in outbreaks in Middle Eastern countries in 2012 and 2015. It was recently found in a bat population in South Africa. Although it is known to spread among animals, scientists claim NeoCov has symptoms similar to SARS-CoV-2 and could also infect humans.

What do researchers say?

Researchers from the Wuhan University and the Chinese Academy of Sciences' Institute of Biophysics have said that only one mutation is required for the virus to infiltrate human cells. They further warned that neither antibodies generated due to coronavirus nor COVID-19 vaccination could protect the human body against NeoCov.

One in three infected by NeoCov dies: Researchers

According to the researchers, NeoCov possesses the potential combination of COVID-19's high transmission rate and MERS-CoV's high mortality rate. NeoCov has a mortality rate of around 33%, meaning one in three infected people die on average, they said.

'Hard to estimate its direct danger'

Meanwhile, Sergey Alkhovsky, head of the biotechnology laboratory at the Gamaleya Center, said the direct danger posed by NeoCov is hard to estimate. He said that there is a multitude of these strains circulating in the wild that need to be studied

The deadly impact of COVID-19

The worrying news about the new strain comes at a time the novel coronavirus continues to infect and kill people around the world with new strains emerging every year. COVID-19 was discovered in China in late 2019 and the World Health Organization (WHO) declared it a pandemic in March 2020. So far, the disease has infected 36.69 crore people across the world and claimed over 56 lakh lives, according to Worldometer.