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RNA viruses like this coronavirus mutate an alarming rates. I would be shocked if these mutations have not already occurred in people. There must be a reason why these mutations were not selected. They must be detrimental in other ways

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There are many reports that SARSCoV2 actually mutates quite slowly.

https://www.livescience.com/coronavirus-mutation-rate.html

It might be the case that the current virus is already very good at its job, new mutations are now able to compete.

Yeah, my understanding is that SARS-CoV-2 has a proofreader enzyme that error corrects, which ensures fidelity during replication. In other words, it mutates a lot slower than say the flu.

According to a viroligist (UC Berkley) you are correct.

The polymerase it uses to duplicate contains a profreading function. Its a big virus too:

A way detailed presentation on the Virus: (I think about 40 minutes in it talks about the duplication). Its kind of an interesting talk:

https://hhmi.hosted.panopto.com/Panopto/Pages/Viewer.aspx?id...

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