Readers weigh in on coronavirus, cats and more

Coronavirus questions

Lessons from outbreaks of coronaviruses that cause SARS and MERS may help scientists get a handle on the ongoing outbreak of a novel coronavirus, Tina Hesman Saey reported in “How the new coronavirus stacks up against SARS and MERS” (SN: 2/15/20, p. 6).

Reader Inge Revuelta wondered about scientists’ calculations of how infectious the new coronavirus is — its R₀.