Chinese Researchers in Wuhan Lab Find COVID-Like Bat Virus

‘This virus could create a highly extremely threatening new bioweapons agent and pandemic pathogen,’ a molecular biologist said.

An aerial view of the P4 laboratory (C) on the campus of the Wuhan Institute of Virology in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China, on May 27, 2020. Hector Retamal/AFP via Getty Images

Chinese researchers, led by a virologist whose work has fueled concerns about a possible COVID-19 lab leak, have discovered a new bat coronavirus that is similar to the one that causes COVID-19, and that is capable of infecting humans.

The virus, called HKU5-CoV-2, can enter human cells through the ACE2 receptor, the same gateway for the SARS-CoV-2 virus that sparked a global pandemic five years ago, according to a study recently published in the peer-reviewed scientific journal Cell.