Chinese researchers have published a series of academic papers on their early findings of the novel coronavirus that has claimed over 50 lives and infected nearly 2,000 people nationwide in China. A paper published recently in the New England Journal of Medicine showed the electron micrographs of the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV). The virus particles were generally spherical, with some pleomorphism. Their diameters varied from about 60 to 140 nanometers. They had quite distinctive spikes, about 9 to 12 nanometers, which gave them the appearance of a solar corona, according to the paper.
The Chinese Academy of Sciences' resource center, which pools all genome sequence data and related information about the novel coronavirus, has proved popular with researchers worldwide. The 2019 Novel Coronavirus Resource Center offers free and open access for all researchers and health workers around the world to download the resources they need.