The coronavirus, specifically the SARS-CoV-2 strain, turned the world upside down in merely a few days. People across the globe were forced to remain in their homes for about one year to slow the spread of the virus that caused the infamous illness, COVID-19. It wasn’t until the advent of COVID-19 vaccines that people were finally permitted to leave their homes and return to their normal daily lives. This week, the Wuhan Institute of Virology in China has discovered a new coronavirus variant. The primary concern surrounding this new strain is derived from its similarities to SARS-CoV-2. In our current day and age, however, with the assistance of advanced technologies that have been developed to combat the coronavirus, will this new strain be the same deadly scourge?

According to Bloomberg, the new type of coronavirus is called HKU5-CoV-2, and it was found in several hundred Pipistrellus bats residing in multiple provinces across China, including Anhui, Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, and Zhejiang. Not only is this strain of the same “bat-borne” origin of its predecessor, but it also enters the human body through the same method, using the ACE2 protein. As defined by Springer, Angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) is a receptor found on the surface of human cells, as a means of access. Furthermore, according to ABC News, experiments performed on lab-created models of human intestines and airways demonstrated that cells with a high quantity of the ACE2 protein displayed high levels of infection. Research performed on this subject was led by Shi Zheng-Li, a virologist who specializes in research surrounding the coronavirus. Her research helped expedite the discovery of the origin of the SARS-CoV-2 strain as per her biography on the American Society of Microbiology web site.

This new virus has partially reignited concern for many individuals, since, due to the origin of the virus from bats, infections from animals to humans may be likely as the ACE2 protein found in humans is also present in bats, as well as many other species of mammals. Additionally, uncertainty remains regarding how this virus will evolve. According to CNN-News18, HKU5-CoV-2 wasn’t considered a danger to human health as it previously utilized a different method to enter the body before using the ACE2 protein present in both human and animal cells. 

No record of human infection of this strain of coronavirus has emerged yet. ABC News reports that the rate at which this virus enters human cells is not as alarming as that of the SARS-CoV-2 strain. Most importantly, the CDC has stated that this new virus isn’t of any concern for the time being, suggesting that this virus may not be as dangerous as one might have thought. 

Due to the event of the COVID-19 pandemic, the world has been alerted to the dangers of viral illnesses and the scale of which they can impact society. While HKU5-CoV-2 may be frightening to those who remember the fear and panic stemming from 2020, humanity has learned and adapted. Scientists will continue to monitor notable changes to this strain using their past experience, and if the worst comes to pass, the world will be ready.