Expert says COVID-19 is a mutation of two closely related coronaviruses

MOSCOW - Scientific research shows the current coronavirus was not manufactured in a laboratory and is the result of the mutation of two closely related coronaviruses, Russia's RIA Novosti news agency has reported.

Didier Pitte, head of the infectious disease prevention and control service at the Geneva University Hospital, told RIA Novosti that it was possible to trace viral mutations over time and find something related to the origins of the current coronavirus.

"The virus we call COVID-19 is just one of the coronaviruses ... since coronaviruses often mutate, we can trace these mutations over time," he said.

The scientist explained that people are able to restore and study various phases of changes in the virus' S-protein, and thereby trace back the initial genetic makeup of COVID-19.

The virus was able to infect people due to mutations in the S-protein of two coronaviruses, which could have occurred through an intermediate host, he said, adding that this happened before the disease was detected in Wuhan.

"We can see that at the start of these transformations, there was a genetic presence of two coronaviruses," he said.

"The fact that there were two coronaviruses whose genetic material led to changes in the S-protein presents evidence against the theory of the man-made origin of the virus," Pitte said.