Coronavirus could infect 2 BILLION: Disease 'on a par with Spanish flu' – chilling warning

Coronavirus fears have sky-rocketed following a warning from virologist Dr Chris Smith. He said the coronavirus, first discovered in Wuhan China, could be as deadly as the Spanish flu which infected an estimated 500 million people worldwide and killed as many as 50 million people. While on the Jeremy Vine show Dr Smith said: “The mortality rate may be slightly underreported.

“So people are hedging their bets and saying it is between 2-5 percent.

“So in other words out of 100 infected people, maybe five will lose their lives.”

He went on to say: “Although this virus is less lethal than SARS which killed about a tenth of the people it got to, the coronavirus is better at getting to people.

“We think the mortality rate may be lower but because it is getting to more people we may ultimately end up with a higher death rate. 

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“This may be on par with the 1918 Spanish Flu if what happens in China happens more broadly across the globe.”

Dr Smith also explained the complexity of spreadability regarding diseases and how that could ultimately see the coronavirus crisis worsen.

He noted how the reproduction number, how many people an infected individual spreads the disease to, was crucially important for the coronavirus.

He said: “For SARS that number was quite low, it was one and a half. 

Although the virus has been mostly contained to mainland China, at least three people outside of the country’s borders have died.

On Monday, February 10, the Chief Medical Officer for England warned the virus poses a “serious and imminent threat” to the UK.

The dire announcement came as the number of confirmed infections in the UK doubled and four new people were diagnosed. 

source: express.co.uk