Recent studies have shown that the emerging coronavirus is contagious among families twice more than similar diseases like SARS, and that it is even found in wastewater. While the world fears a new outbreak, the Palestinian Minister of Health announced that this wave has already begun. Will a benign genetic mutation of the virus save us from it?

We begin with a study by researchers from China and the United States that found that the new Coronavirus "SARS Cove 2" virus is twice as common in families with similar diseases as SARS, with a large number of additional infections recorded before any symptoms appear Upon suffering from Covid-19.

Using the data of 350 people infected with Covid-19 and about two thousand relatives in the Chinese city of Guangzhou, the researchers estimated the "secondary attack rate" of the virus, that is, the possibility of the person transmitting the disease to another person, and found that it was 2.4%, while this number jumped to 17.1% between Residents of one house.

The researchers found that the risk of a family member suffering from Covid-19 is two times higher than that of SARS, and three times higher than that of the MERS virus.

They concluded that the likelihood of a person infected with Covid-19 infection being transmitted to a family member or colleague in the residence was significantly higher, reaching 39% before symptoms of the virus started on him after him.

Sewage

We move to Japan, where a study confirmed the presence of the Corona virus in wastewater plants, a discovery that could serve as an indication of future outbreaks.

The study tested water from four treatment plants in Ishikawa and Toyama prefectures in western Japan, and 7 of the 27 samples were positive for SARS Cove 2.

The study was conducted by Toyama Prefecture University, Kanazawa University and Kyoto University. These results are similar to similar studies in Australia, the United States, and Europe.

Public health experts say such samples can be used to estimate the number of infected people in a region without examining each individual.

"The sanitation test is used as an early warning system to alert people about the ongoing transmission (perhaps unnoticed) of infection in society," said Yuki Verios, a professor at Kyoto University who was not directly involved in the study.

A second wave

In the Palestinian Territories, Minister of Health Mai Alkila said that 24 new infections were recorded today, Thursday, with the new Corona virus, which brings the total number of infections to 769.

"We have entered into a second wave of the Corona pandemic, and we reiterate the importance and necessity of all citizens to adhere to safety and preventive measures," she said.

On Monday, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas urged citizens to adhere to public safety conditions, place masks, and stay away from gatherings.

In the United States, many states are experiencing a record rise in the daily incidence of the emerging coronavirus while moving forward to ease closures, including Oklahoma, where President Donald Trump is scheduled to hold a rally for his re-election campaign next Saturday.

Health officials and some local leaders fear that the Tulsa community may contribute to the spread of the virus, the first Trump gathering since the pandemic halted large gatherings.

Trump is pushing to reopen the country, and has often seemed to underestimate public health concerns about an outbreak.

Mike Pence, vice president and leader of the White House Corona Virus Action Team - Tuesday in an opinion piece in The Wall Street Journal - wrote that "panic" about a second wave of infections was "exaggerated".

China is back to the fore

And the Chinese authorities imposed restrictions on movement for nearly half a million people near Beijing Thursday, as part of measures to prevent the outbreak of a new wave of the Corona virus emerging, including a large-scale campaign of tests to track contacts of the infected people and the closure of parts of the capital.

And 21 new cases of the virus were recorded in the last 24 hours in Beijing, according to the National Health Committee, which raises to 158 the total number of cases since a new focus was detected last week, after months of no local infection being recorded.

Beijing is collecting nearly 400,000 samples per day, in a campaign to detect any cases of Covid-19, amid concern that the new focus will cause a second wave of the epidemic in China, after it has been able to contain the infection since the virus appeared in the city of Wuhan amid The country late last year.

The latest casualties have appeared in the large Xinfadi wholesale market in Beijing, which supplies the city with more than 70% of meat and vegetables.

New class

Many data reveal that the wave of infection in China is linked to a new mutation, and in the first experiments it was found that a new class of the emerging corona virus was spreading in China, according to a report by Deutsche Welle.

The Beijing SARS Covid 2 virus differs slightly from the one that invaded China before, says Chinese Ministry of Health virologist Zhang Guan in the Global Times.

For reproduction, viruses use host cells. When viruses attack this host cell, they enter the heart of the genetic codes within the cell, and as such, the cells of the body produce millions of copies of the virus.

Usually, the human body is able to protect itself from these viruses, as it produces an antibody to defend it against this type of viral attack and makes it immune to the cause of the disease.

If a mutation in the pathogen and the antibodies programmed get an older copy of the virus, then the antibodies will have less efficacy. For this reason, we regularly have a cold, and during the previous colds the body made similar antibodies, but against the mutant, we do not have new antibodies.

Are mutations dangerous?

The virus does not automatically become dangerous through a mutation, and some mutations can weaken the virus.

Even the virologist Christian Drosten of the Charetti Hospital in Berlin considers the mutation a positive. Through mutations, the virus can weaken, eventually disappearing completely, and this is what happened during the outbreak of the SARS epidemic in 2003.

Beginning in November 2002, the SARS epidemic from southern China spread within a few weeks on almost all continents, and raised great concerns among the population.

But within half a year the epidemic caused only 774 deaths in the world. Since the summer of 2003 the number of new infections globally has continuously declined, and in May 2004 the World Health Organization announced that the first wave of SARS epidemic had been overlooked.

Therefore, the new mutation that appeared in the newly discovered virus in Beijing may have made it less fierce, and this may be good news.

"The epidemic has been brought under control in Beijing," said Wu Chunyu, an epidemiologist with the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

"When I say he is under control, this does not mean that the number of cases will turn to zero tomorrow or the day after tomorrow ... the trend will continue for a period of time, but the number of cases will decrease," Wu told a press conference.