In China, a new coronavirus, which has similarities with COVID-19, has been discovered in bats, El.kz cites en.iz.ru.
According to the publication, the virus is a new line of coronavirus HKU5, which was identified in Hong Kong in the Japanese nuthatch, which is a species of bat. It is noted that the virus isolated from bat specimens can be infectious to humans.
"Merbekoviruses of bats pose a high risk of spread to humans either through direct transmission or through intermediate hosts," - stated in the material.