Scientists identify strains of coronavirus as pandemic infects over 1 million worldwide

As coronavirus is spreading rapidly throughout the globe and researchers are trying to understand the evolution of the virus, scientists have reportedly identified at least eight strains of the virus. According to international media reports, over 2,000 genetic sequences of the virus were submitted from laboratories across the world which shows how the virus is migrating into new subtypes. The scientists revealed that the samples collected from almost every continent showed that the deadly virus is taking on an average of 15 days for mutating. 

As per reports, the mutations are helping scientists understand their behaviour and origin. Trevor Bedford, who is a computational biologist at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, US, reportedly said that the mutations are completely benign and useful as a puzzle piece to uncover how the virus is spreading. Trevor added that the research about the mutations made it clear that genomics data gives a much richer story about how the outbreak is unfolding. The evolution of the virus further also helped scientists debunk the conspiracy theory that the virus might have originated in laboratories. 

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The scientists reportedly revealed that he coronavirus emerged in the city of Wuhan, China and is the product of natural evolution. The researchers found no evidence that the virus was made in a laboratory or otherwise engineered. Kristian Andersen, Associate Professor of Immunology and Microbiology at Scripps Research Institute in the US reportedly said that by comparing the available genome sequence data for known coronavirus strains, she can firmly determine that COVID-19 originated through natural processes

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COVID-19 could claim 1.8 million lives 

Meanwhile, according to another study conducted by Britain’s Imperial College, the death count from the coronavirus pandemic could hit 1.8 million worldwide. The Imperial College modelling simulations are based on the current data about the magnitude of the severity of the virus, its estimated mortality rate, contagiousness and the demographic and societal factors. The study reveals that if left unchecked, COVID-19 could have infected almost everyone on the planet this year, killing 40 million people, as per reports. 

The report also discusses the varying levels of response, ranging from spontaneous social distancing to the tough lockdown measures that have been imposed in the worst-affected countries, and projects the potential health impacts across 204 countries.

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