
Coronavirus is mutating: Chinese scientists find a second strain of Covid-19 - ryan_j_naughton
https://fortune.com/2020/03/04/coronavirus-mutating-second-strain-covid-19-wuhan-china/
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fspeech
The main point of the finding is actually there were two strains to begin
with. Each strain may create different pattern of transmission. See the
original here [https://academic.oup.com/nsr/advance-
article/doi/10.1093/nsr...](https://academic.oup.com/nsr/advance-
article/doi/10.1093/nsr/nwaa036/5775463)

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DrScump
So, do the famous test kits show positive for _either_ strain or just one?

If _either_ , does it distinguish between the two for independent reporting?

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fspeech
These cases were first identified through the test kits, so apparently the
tests do catch both strains. Since the difference is only a single nucleotide
the tests can not distinguish between the two. This study uses results from
full genome sequencing, which is much more laborious and less frequently done.

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throwaway3157
Is this fairly common / expected? The article makes this seem expected

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rolph
Yes.

the virus uses RNA to keep its code, RNA is error prone.

so the code shifts gradually everytime it replicates, usually its not a big
deal, but if by chance just the right point mutation, or a long series of them
accumulate, there can be major changes in the character of the virus, such as
how catching is it, what cells it goes after, what kind of animals/hosts it
can infect.

