Coronavirus can infect 60% of global population if unchecked, claims Hong Kong researcher

The deadly novel Coronavirus and its impacts on the world could be much more than what is now being projected, according to a Hong Kong’s leading public health epidemiologist Gabriel Leung. He warned that more than 60 per cent of the global population could be at risk if the containment measures against the virus fail.

60% of human population at risk

Professor Gabriel Leung, who is the Dean of the Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine of the University of Hong Kong, said that even with a death rate of 1 per cent, the virus could claim millions of lives. This implies that 4 billion people out of the currently existing 7 billion people around the globe could contract the virus if it continues to accelerate at the current pace. 

According to experts studying the virus, the new coronavirus that first appeared in the Chinese city of Wuhan in an illegal market will continue to spread. They have also added that the true count of those infected by the virus could be much more than the officially provided figures. Experts believe that each infected person on an average infected two or three healthy people before they were quarantined.

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China's struggle continues

The death toll for the coronavirus outbreak in China has reportedly jumped to 1,110 on February 12 with another 1,638 new confirmed cases, according to Hubei's health commission. The total number of confirmed cases across China are now more than 44,200. Hubei province, which is the epicentre of the viral outbreak, has also reported 94 new deaths. 

The outbreak took place in Wuhan in January and multiple countries have started evacuating their citizens from the country, and have decided to restrict the entry of foreigners returning from China. The virus was officially also named 'COVID-19' at a conference in Geneva held by the World Health Organisation, where the body's chief said that countries had a chance of stopping its global spread. Earlier this month, WHO also declared Coronavirus as a 'global public health emergency'. 

(Image Credit: @HKUMPH)

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