Overdale wrote:It appears that there are 3 strains; A, B and C. China had type A and then B, USA has B, Europe has type C, looks as if C might be more deadly

Where did you get your information?? If you're going to quote this sort of thing, you really ought to include your source.


The virus that causes the Covid-19 disease is called SARS-CoV-2, a novel coronavirus, and is the new strain that is affecting the whole world. The extract below is from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention:

Human Coronavirus Types

Coronaviruses are named for the crown-like spikes on their surface. There are four main sub-groupings of coronaviruses, known as alpha, beta, gamma, and delta.
Human coronaviruses were first identified in the mid-1960s. The seven coronaviruses that can infect people are:

Common human coronaviruses

1. 229E (alpha coronavirus)
2. NL63 (alpha coronavirus)
3. OC43 (beta coronavirus)
4. HKU1 (beta coronavirus)

Other human coronaviruses

1. MERS-CoV (the beta coronavirus that causes Middle East Respiratory Syndrome, or MERS)
2. SARS-CoV (the beta coronavirus that causes severe acute respiratory syndrome, or SARS)
3. SARS-CoV-2 (the novel coronavirus that causes coronavirus disease 2019, or COVID-19)

People around the world commonly get infected with human coronaviruses 229E, NL63, OC43, and HKU1.
Sometimes coronaviruses that infect animals can evolve and make people sick and become a new human coronavirus. Three recent examples of this are 2019-nCoV, SARS-CoV, and MERS-CoV.