Viruset muterar i låg grad – vaccin ser ut att bli hållbart

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), previously known by the provisional name 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV), is a positive-sense single-stranded RNA virus. It is contagious in humans and is the cause of the ongoing pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) that has been designated a Public Health Emergency of International Concern by the World Health Organization (WHO).SARS-CoV-2 has close genetic similarity to bat coronaviruses, from which it likely originated. An intermediate animal reservoir such as a pangolin is also thought to be involved in its introduction to humans. From a taxonomic perspective, SARS-CoV-2 is classified as a strain of the species severe acute respiratory syndrome-related coronavirus (SARSr-CoV).The strain was first discovered in Wuhan, China, so it has sometimes been referred to as the "Wuhan virus" or "Wuhan coronavirus". Because the World Health Organization discourages the use of names based upon locations and to avoid confusion with the disease SARS, it sometimes refers to the virus as "the virus responsible for COVID-19" or "the COVID-19 virus" in public health communications. The general public often call both the virus and the disease "coronavirus", but scientists and most journalists typically use more precise terms.