# Just How Many Coronaviruses Are There? **URL:** \ **Category:** The Quarantine Zone\ **Tags:** covid-quarantine\ **Created:** [May 7, 2020, 9:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-how-many-coronaviruses-are-there/853313 "2020-05-07T09:11:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Jim\_B](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jim_b/32/4338_2.png) [@Jim\_B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_B)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2020, 9:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-how-many-coronaviruses-are-there/853313/1 "2020-05-07T09:11:09Z")
I have to tell you that I don’t know the answer to this question. But it already blows my mind. **Just how many Coronaviruses worldwide are there now?** I am not just talking about inside sufferers bodies. I mean on **every** surface, **every** airborne particle, and **every** … Well you get the picture. Oh, and I know that there will be some sticklers for details, who will ask ‘at what point?’😉 I mean at the exact point I post this message. I mean are there billions? Trillions? A Googolplex even comes to my mind, because I just don’t know. And feel free to take **educated** guesses. Thank you in advance for your helpful replies:). :):):):):):)🙂 ---
**Author:** ![kambuckta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/53a042/32.png) [@kambuckta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kambuckta)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2020, 9:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-how-many-coronaviruses-are-there/853313/2 "2020-05-07T09:23:24Z")
Lots. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2020, 10:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-how-many-coronaviruses-are-there/853313/3 "2020-05-07T10:27:03Z")
> **[Billions of Viruses Are Falling to Earth Right Now (But That Isn't Why You...](https://www.livescience.com/61689-viruses-fall-from-sky.html)** > > Billions of airborne viruses waft down on us every day, carried by air currents that disperse them around the world. While not limited to coronavirus, viruses are the most populous microbe on the planet. > [@](#): > > In fact, viruses are the most abundant microbes on the planet, the study authors reported. The total estimated number of viruses is so staggeringly large that if all Earth’s viruses were collected together they would cover an area spanning 100 million light-years, the journal Nature Reviews Microbiology reported in 2011. ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2020, 12:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-how-many-coronaviruses-are-there/853313/4 "2020-05-07T12:01:34Z")
[\*\* “Corona” is a Family of Viruses \*\*](https://www.who.int/docs/default-source/sri-lanka-documents/what-is-coronavirus-english.pdf?sfvrsn=a6b21ac_2) > [@](#): > > Coronaviruses are a family of viruses that range from the common cold to MERS coronavirus, which is Middle East Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus and SARs, Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus. Where do coronaviruses come from? Corona viruses are circulating in animals and some of these coronaviruses have the capability of transmitting between animals and humans. We call that a spillover event. That’s why it is incorrect to call COVID-19 “the Corona Virus”. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2020, 12:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-how-many-coronaviruses-are-there/853313/5 "2020-05-07T12:12:47Z")
> [@madsircool](#): > > [Billions of Viruses Are Falling to Earth Right Now (But That Isn't Why You Have the Flu) | Live Science](https://www.livescience.com/61689-viruses-fall-from-sky.html) > > While not limited to coronavirus, viruses are the most populous microbe on the planet. The statement from that article is confusing: > [@](#): > > In fact, viruses are the most abundant microbes on the planet, the study authors reported. The total estimated number of viruses is so staggeringly large that if all Earth’s viruses were collected together they would cover an area spanning 100 million light-years, But they **are** “collected together”. On Earth. And they cover an area the size of…Earth. But if you remove the Earth and everything non-virus, suddenly they cover 100 million light-years? ---
**Author:** ![Hermitian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hermitian/32/470_2.png) [@Hermitian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hermitian)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2020, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-how-many-coronaviruses-are-there/853313/6 "2020-05-07T12:31:14Z")
> [@Jim\_B](#): > > A Googolplex even comes to my mind, because I just don’t know. Well, I can help you there. There aren’t even a googol atoms in the universe, so a a googolplex is right out. ---
**Author:** ![lobotomyboy63](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobotomyboy63/32/2900_2.png) [@lobotomyboy63](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lobotomyboy63)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2020, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-how-many-coronaviruses-are-there/853313/7 "2020-05-07T12:52:21Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > The statement from that article is confusing: But they **are** “collected together”. On Earth. And they cover an area the size of…Earth. But if you remove the Earth and everything non-virus, suddenly they cover 100 million light-years? I read it to mean that if you put them end to end… Imagine the earth were covered in ping pong balls. Let’s say 10 feet deep. End to end in a straight line, just one deep, how far would the ping ping balls stretch? …but I could be wrong. ---
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2020, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-how-many-coronaviruses-are-there/853313/8 "2020-05-07T13:11:39Z")
> [@lobotomyboy63](#): > > I read it to mean that if you put them end to end… > > Imagine the earth were covered in ping pong balls. Let’s say 10 feet deep. End to end in a straight line, just one deep, how far would the ping ping balls stretch? > > …but I could be wrong. This was my take too. ---
**Author:** ![jshore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b5e925/32.png) [@jshore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jshore)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2020, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-how-many-coronaviruses-are-there/853313/9 "2020-05-07T13:17:12Z")
> [@lobotomyboy63](#): > > I read it to mean that if you put them end to end… > > Imagine the earth were covered in ping pong balls. Let’s say 10 feet deep. End to end in a straight line, just one deep, how far would the ping ping balls stretch? > > …but I could be wrong. If you go back to the original journal article ([Microbiology by numbers | Nature Reviews Microbiology](https://www.nature.com/articles/nrmicro2644)), it confirms what you read it to mean. However, the LiveScience piece messed it up by saying “would cover an area spanning…” and then specified it in terms of a length, so it wasn’t clear what the hell was meant. Urgh!!! ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2020, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-how-many-coronaviruses-are-there/853313/10 "2020-05-07T13:20:50Z")
> [@madsircool](#): > > This was my take too. Well, then, they shouldn’t have said area. OP, there are something like 10^50 atoms on the Earth, so fewer than that. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2020, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-how-many-coronaviruses-are-there/853313/11 "2020-05-07T13:23:17Z")
> [@Jim\_B](#): > > I have to tell you that I don’t know the answer to this question. But it already blows my mind. > > **Just how many Coronaviruses worldwide are there now?** > > I am not just talking about inside sufferers bodies. I mean > on **every** surface, **every** airborne particle, and **every** … Well you get the picture. > > Oh, and I know that there will be some sticklers for details, who will ask ‘at what point?’😉 I mean at the exact point I post this message. > > I mean are there billions? Trillions? A Googolplex even comes to my mind, because I just don’t know. And feel free to take **educated** guesses. Thank you in advance for your helpful replies:). > > :):):):):):)🙂 Gosh. Most of SARS-CoV-2 particles are in people. For most viruses a single cough or sneeze can contain over 200 million viral particles … so how many in each infected person? I’d go with at a 100K times more. So in each infected person 200 billion? WAG at an extreme but hey. How many actively infected inclusive of symptomatic and presymptomatic infections? Identified as active by Worldometer about 2.2 million. Multiply that by some factor for unidentified sick and another factor for the asymptomatic and presymptomatic - go up by 10X maybe? So 22M \* 200 B … 4.4 x 10[sup]18[/sup]? And add some for some much smaller amount not in people. Ach make it a round 5 x 10[sup]18[/sup]. Give or take a few orders of magnitude. 🙂 Related answer to a question not asked. There are over 3200 species of coronavirus in bats alone. ---
**Author:** ![Ann\_Hedonia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ann_hedonia/32/319_2.png) [@Ann\_Hedonia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ann_Hedonia)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2020, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-how-many-coronaviruses-are-there/853313/12 "2020-05-07T15:42:10Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > The statement from that article is confusing: But they **are** “collected together”. On Earth. And they cover an area the size of…Earth. But if you remove the Earth and everything non-virus, suddenly they cover 100 million light-years? This is not a well written article. I checked her sourcing and it says if all the viruses on earth were laid end to end, she wouldn’t be surprised. Whoops, wrong cite. 😃 —-It says if all the viruses on earth were laid end to end they would stretch 100 million light years. My apologies to Dorothy Parker. ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2020, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-how-many-coronaviruses-are-there/853313/13 "2020-05-09T04:07:37Z")
This is an unusual supplier website: [https://www.sinobiological.com/research/virus/2019-ncov-antigen](https://www.sinobiological.com/research/virus/2019-ncov-antigen) It says: > [@](#): > > There are seven types of coronaviruses known to infect humans. The website is well worth looking at: it’s small, informative, technical, says things are not “one simple thing”, has pictures like “Schematic of CoV spike protein mediated membrane fusion”, and has lists of things they sell. You know that “they” are working on “a vaccine”, right? It seem that it’s more complicated than that: From another page there: different kinds of vaccines, advantages/disadvantages: > [@](#): > > Full-length S protein: Induces effective neutralizing-antibody and T-cell responses, as well as protective immunity Might induce harmful immune responses that cause liver damage or enhanced infection > > DNA-based: Easier to design; induces immunoglobulin G, neutralizing-antibody and T-cell responses and/or protective immunity Might have low efficacy in humans; repeated doses may cause toxicity > > Viral vector-based: Induces neutralizing-antibody responses, protective immunity and/or T-cell responses Might induce ADE effect; possibly present pre-existing immunity > > Recombinant S protein-based: Induces high neutralizing-antibody responses and protective immunity Mainly humoral responses; need repeated doses and adjuvants > > RBD: Induces highly potent neutralizing-antibody and T-cell responses and protective immunity Not identified > > DNA-based: Induces neutralizing-antibody and T-cell responses and/or protective immunity Induces low responses; might not neutralize mutants > > Viral vector-based: Induces neutralizing-antibody responses, protective immunity and/or T-cell responses Possible genomic integration of foreign DNA; viral vector instability > > Recombinant RBD protein-based: Safer and more effective than other RBD vaccines; induces neutralizing-antibody and T-cell responses, protective immunity and cross protection Needs repeated doses and adjuvants ---
**Author:** ![VOW](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/vow/32/3043_2.png) [@VOW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VOW)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2020, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-how-many-coronaviruses-are-there/853313/14 "2020-05-09T04:48:50Z")
A rough guess on a number: zillions. I learned about coronaviruses when I lost a cat to a mutation of a coronavirus specific to cats. I also learnedthe coronaviruses love to mutate. ~VOW ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2020, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-how-many-coronaviruses-are-there/853313/15 "2020-05-11T23:13:03Z")
> [@VOW](#): > > A rough guess on a number: zillions. > > I learned about coronaviruses when I lost a cat to a mutation of a coronavirus specific to cats. > > I also learnedthe coronaviruses love to mutate. > ~VOW However, most mutations which change the mode of action are not effective: such changes are dead ends. It is very difficult to mutate a virus into anything “different”. Hence, only 7 different coronaviruses: SARS, MERS, SARS2 (C19), another unnamed respiratory illness, and 3 versions of the common cold.