4月9日,香港大学微生物学系教授袁国勇领衔在《临床传染病》( Clinical Infectious Diseases)杂志上发表的一篇题为《Comparative replication and immune activation profiles of SARS-CoV-2 and SARS-CoV in human lungs: an ex vivo study with implications for the pathogenesis of COVID-19》的研究表明,SARS-CoV-2在肺部繁殖速度是SARS病毒的3.2倍。