Analysts with the Economist Intelligence Unit predict that the coronavirus will infect 50 percent of the world population and have a fatality rate of up to 3 percent.
“We assume that the virus will infect around 50% of the world population; 20% of the cases will be severe, and 1-3% will result in deaths,” the EIU said in a note published Wednesday.
Additionally, analysts said global growth would stand at just 1 percent for 2020, down from its outlook of 2.3 percent before the outbreak started.
More than 210,000 people worldwide have been infected by the virus, according to Johns Hopkins University, and more than 8,700 have died from the outbreak, which started in Wuhan, China.
The EIU in its note said the virus “will become a seasonal disease, with another outbreak in Winter 2020/2021,” adding that they did not expect a vaccine to come onto the market until at least the end of next year, though a number of organizations are working to make the world’s first vaccine for the virus.
Death ratios, according to the EIU, “will depend on the capacity of countries to effectively detect, track, and contain the epidemic. Death ratios will be higher in countries with poor healthcare systems — in Sub-Saharan Africa for instance.”
Solange Reyner ✉
Solange Reyner is a writer and editor for Newsmax. She has more than 15 years in the journalism industry reporting and covering news, sports and politics.
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