What is the Origin of This Coronavirus?

A small team of experts assembled by the World Health Organization to research the origins of the SARS-CoV-2 betacoronavirus says they plan to sift through samples and medical data from China to determine its origin, reported the AP on December 15, 2020. As the name indicates, the new virus is related to the SARS coronavirus that caused deadly outbreaks in 2002-2003.

Fabian Leendertz, a biologist at Germany’s Robert Koch Institute who specializes in emerging diseases, said that this team's goal is to gather data to be better prepared for possible future outbreaks. It’s about trying to understand what happened and then see if, based on those data, we can try to reduce the risk in the future.'

Coronaviruses are the 2nd leading cause of the common cold after rhinoviruses. People commonly get infected with human coronaviruses 229E, NL63, OC43, and HKU1, says the U.S. CDC.