Recently, Chinese researchers have said that they have found a batch of new coronaviruses in bats. The research report was prepared by the Chinese researchers from Shandong University and published in the journal Cell.

Quoting to the researchers, CNN reported that the newly found viruses in the bats include one that might be genetically the second-closest yet to the COVID-19 virus.

Their discoveries in southwestern China show just how many coronaviruses are there in bats and how many have the potential to spread to people, the researchers say.

The report reads, 'In total, we assembled 24 novel coronavirus genomes from different bat species, including four SARS-CoV-2 like coronaviruses'.

As mentioned by the researchers, the samples were collected from small, forest-dwelling bats between May 2019 and November 2020. For the study, they had tested urine and feces as well as taking swabs from the bats' mouths.

The researchers said they found one of the viruses to be genetically very similar, to the SARS-CoV-2 virus, which has been causing the ongoing pandemic since long.

They added that the newly found virus would be the closest strain to SARS-CoV-2 except for genetic differences on the spike protein, the knob-like structure that the virus uses when attaching to cells.