Scientists at the Wuhan Institute of Virology in China have discovered a new lineage of a coronavirus in bats that can enter human cells in a similar fashion as SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19,

Scientists have reacted to the discovery of a new coronavirus found in bats in a Wuhan lab close to the epicentre of Covid-19, which plunged the world into lockdown five years ago. A team at the Wuhan Institute of Virology in China sounded the alarm last week over a new bat virus found with 'concerning' similarities to the virus that triggered the pandemic in 2020.

The new coronavirus found in bats is not currently a public health threat, per CDC. Here, infectious disease doctors break down the discovery of HKU5-CoV-2.