Evolution of a Coronavirus

Excellent long read in the New Yorker on the history of this strain of the coronavirus and what the future might hold.

https://www.newyorker.com/science/elements/from-bats-to-human-lungs-the-evolution-of-a-coronavirus

"When forty-one severe cases of pneumonia were first announced in Wuhan, in December, many of them were connected to a wet market with a notorious wildlife section. Animals are stacked in cages—rabbits on top of civets on top of ferret-badgers. “That’s just a gravitational exchange of fecal matter and viruses,” Epstein said." #covid-19 #coronavirus #china

The more virulent strains might burn out (which, however, means many more awful deaths), while the remaining hosts might build up some immunity. More immediately, and urgently, the virus’s stability—how much it is thriving among us right now, and mutating only minimally—bodes well for the performance of antiviral drugs and, eventually, a vaccine. If the growing number of mitigation measures—this unprecedented national and international shutdown—are held in place for enough time, the speed at which the virus is spreading should slow, giving hospitals and health workers some relief. “The virus is our teacher,” Denison told me. It has spent thousands of years evolving to get where it is. We’re now just rushing to catch up."

This thing isn't gonna last forever, even though it feels like it at the moment. Scientific evidence makes me hopeful and happy.

From Bats to Human Lungs, the Evolution of a Coronavirus The New Yorker