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More than two and a half years have already passed since the first case of COVID-19 was officially reported (December 2019), as well as more than two years since the WHO declared the current pandemic (March 2020). During these months, the advances on the knowledge of the COVID-19 and SARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus responsible of the infection, have been very significant. However, there are still some weak points on that knowledge, being the origin of SARS-CoV-2 one of the most notorious. One year ago, I published a review focused on what we knew and what we need to know about the origin of that coronavirus, a key point for the prevention of potential future pandemics of a similar nature. The analysis of the available publications until July 2021 did not allow drawing definitive conclusions on the origin of SARS-CoV-2. Given the great importance of that issue, the present review was aimed at updating the scientific information on that origin. Unfortunately, there have not been significant advances on that topic, remaining basically the same two hypotheses on it. One of them is the zoonotic origin of SARS-CoV-2, while the second one is the possible leak of this coronavirus from a laboratory. Most recent papers do not include observational or experimental studies, being discussions and positions on these two main hypotheses. Based on the information here reviewed, there is not yet a definitive and well demonstrated conclusion on the origin of SARS-CoV-2. • The origin of SARS-CoV-2 is not established, but most papers point out to a zoonotic origin of this coronavirus. • An important number of available papers on the origin of SARC-CoV-2 are not experimental studies. • The hypothesis of an unnatural origin of SARS-CoV-2 cannot be yet scientifically discarded. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the appearance of the first cases of COVID-19 in 2019, an unprecedented number of documents on that disease have been published in a short space of time. The current available information covers a large number of topics related with COVID-19 and/or the coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) responsible of the disease. However, only a limited number of publications have been focused on a controversial issue: the origin of the SARS-CoV-2. In this paper, the scientific literature on the origin of SARS-CoV-2 has been reviewed. Documents published during 2020 and 2021 (January 1-July 19) in journals that are indexed in PubMed and/or Scopus has been considered. The revised studies were grouped according to these two potential origins: natural and unnatural. The analyses of the conclusions of the different documents here assessed show that even considering the zoonotic hypothesis as the most likely, with bats and pangolins being possibly in the origin of the coronavirus, today's date the intermediate source species of SARS-CoV-2 has not been confirmed yet. On the other hand, some researchers point to an unnatural origin of this coronavirus, but their conclusions are not strongly supported by a clear scientific evidence. Given the tremendous severity of the current pandemic, investigations to establish clearly and definitively the origin of SARS-CoV-2, are basic and essential in order to prevent potential future pandemics of similar nature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the COVID-19 outbreak, researchers have tried to characterise the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 to better understand the pathogenic mechanisms of the virus and prevent further dissemination. As a consequence, there has been a bloom in scientific research papers focused on the behaviour of the virus in different environmental contexts. Nevertheless, despite these efforts and due to its novelty, available information about this coronavirus is limited, as several research studies are still ongoing. This review aims to shed light on this issue. To that end, we have examined the scientific literature to date regarding the viability of SARS-CoV-2 on surfaces and fluids or under different environmental conditions (temperature, precipitation and UV radiation). We have also addressed the role of animals in the transmission of this coronavirus. Image 1 • Data overview on practical information about SARS-CoV-2-survival on different surfaces. • SARS-CoV-2 is not affected with temperatures as seasonal coronaviruses. • UV radiation may inactivate SARS-CoV-2 after 1 h of index of 10. • Pet animals such as cat, dogs, and ferrets are susceptible to infection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]