One of the most crucial questions about the pandemic is how the coronavirus spread fast when detected in 2019. Several months later more than 3 million cases and thousands of quick deaths.
Samples from 7,500 patient who caught the contagion might point a fast propagation of the disease that spread like wildfire. Indicators show that without a doubt, it emerged in China, as early as October not December as it thought to be, scientists announced on Wednesday according to Reuters.
Evidence-based on 200 recurrent genetic mutations of the new coronavirus was forwarded by scientists of the University College London's Genetics Institute, mentioned a high and uncanny degree of adaptiveness to human hosts with deadly consequences.
The research team made this statement, "Phylogenetic estimates support that the COVID-2 pandemic started sometime around Oct. 6, 2019, to Dec. 11, 2019, which corresponds to the time of the host jump into humans." Led by the Francois Balloux, he wrote in a study published in the journal Infection, Genetics and Evolution.
Balloux noted the analysis pointed to a virus that is evolving and mutating to the human race, as viruses do and the result is an evolving virus that gets better at killing a weak host. Examples of this are the susceptibility of the elderly to COVID-19, which usually ends in intubation and death.
These impressions on the progress of the coronavirus were transferred at an alarmingly fast rate, early on this was not expected to be that swift.
Balloux said, "All viruses naturally mutate. Mutations in themselves are not a bad thing and there is nothing to suggest SARS-CoV-2 is mutating faster or slower than expected."
According to him, it is not easy to judge how lethal or contagious the coronavirus has evolved into.
Another study done at Britain's University of Glasgow, had this to say how the deadly contagion spread.
This second study was done by scientists at Britain's University of Glasgow, they did an analysis of the coronavirus before but found out differences in the viral strains with inaccuracies in the examination.
One type of strain is now evolving and overcoming a weaker strain.
Last March, a study done by Chinese scientists showed two competing strains of the new coronavirus infecting people. One was more aggressive and relentless on its host.
After publishing their analysis in the journal Virus Evolution, the Glasgow study seemed to concur that the more aggressive and virulent type may be the coronavirus infecting everyone, and spreading.
It is an understatement to say that 3.71 million are infected and 258,186 have died, according to a Reuters tally, but it the toll changes rapidly too.
Officials in more than 210 countries believe that there are more cases that are not reported yet from the first reported patient in Wuhan or some other place in China in 2019.
Inspecting the Genome and evolution of the coronavirus offers insights to how it may evolve further, said Jonathan Stoye, head of the division of virology at Britain's Francis Crick Institute.
"All the evidence is entirely consistent with an origin towards the end of last year, and there's no reason to question that in any way," Stoye said.
French scientists announced finding COVID-19 samples as early as December 27, before the case boom. The WHO chimed in as well too.
As the coronavirus spread and 200 adaptions or mutations that can evolve and sicken the world, everyone is a sitting duck with no exception.
