Pole among scientists who make breakthrough in coronavirus research

Polish scientist Maciej Tarkowski is in a team of researchers who isolated Italian strain of SARS-CoV-2 virus, commonly called the coronavirus.

The virus strain has been isolated in a hospital in Milan, northern Italy. The discovery of the specialists will allow them to precisely track the spread and transmission of the virus.

Apart from the Pole, the team consists of researchers Alessia Loi, Annalisa Bergna, Arianna Gabrieli and professor Gianguglielmo Zehender.

The results of the research were published by professor Massimo Galli, the director of the Biomedical Research Institute.

“We have isolated virus of four patients from Codogno,” professor Galli said. This is a town in Lodi province, northern Italy, where the first case of infection of the coronavirus in Italy was recorded. It was a 38-year-old man, who did not travel to China.

The next step for the team of specialists to take is to work on the antibodies for the vaccine and treatment methods.

Italy is the country with the third-largest number of confirmed cases of infection of SARS-CoV-2 virus, with a total of 655 people who caught it, after China and South Korea. The higher number (705) was also recorded onboard the “Diamond Princess” cruise ship which has been quarantined in Japan’s port of Yokohama for more than three weeks.

Poland remains among the countries where there is no confirmed case of infection. Polish authorities declared that they are prepared for its arrival in Poland.

A total of 83,385 confirmed cases of coronavirus were recorded worldwide as of February 28 morning (CET). As many as 2,858 people died because of it, and 36,605 recovered. However, there are cases of people who were infected again.