Reuters
A new type of coronavirus found in Malaysian pneumonia patients is not presently a cause for concern, as scientists have not established that it makes people sick or can be passed human-to-human, a noted virologist from the Southeast Asian country said Monday.
Scientists know of seven coronaviruses that infect people – including SARS-CoV2, which has spread globally and spawned several variants, as part of the COVID-19 pandemic. SARS-CoV2 is one of three coronaviruses originating in animals that have caused major outbreaks of disease in humans in the last 20 years, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.