The coronavirus pandemic has already killed more than 293,000 people worldwide, and the number of positive cases has risen to 4.2 million. As scare looms up, a top medical expert has predicted that COVID-19 is still in its early stage and the number of infected people will rise dramatically in the coming days.
These remarks were made by Michael Osterholm, director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota, during an exclusive talk with USA Today. Osterholm claimed that the current status of coronavirus infection actually represent a fraction of illness and death, yet to come.
Coronavirus chaos to continue
The medical expert argued that this pandemic will not slow down until it affects at least 60 to 70 percent of the world's population. "This damn virus is going to keep going until it infects everybody it possibly can. It surely won't slow down until it hits 60 to 70 percent of the population," Osterholm told USA Today.
Osterholm also added that the coronavirus may follow a similar pattern like flu, which indicates that the pathogen will return in the coming years, even if medical experts succeed in containing it now. The medical expert predicted that countries like South Korea and Singapore that that successfully controlled damage in the first wave will face dreaded effects of COVID-19 during the second wave.
The vitality of developing an effective vaccine
Osterholm revealed that the only way to contain the virus is by developing an effective vaccine. However, he made it clear that this vaccine should offer long-lasting protection against coronavirus to prevent a future outbreak. He added that humans should try to live with the virus in the future.
"We all have to confront the fact there's not a magic bullet, short of a vaccine, that's going to make this go away. We're going to be living with it. And we're not having that discussion at all," said Osterholm.
