COVID-19 is far from contained and could rival 1918 flu pandemic that killed 50 million...

[Nevilledog]

Coronavirus update: COVID-19 is far from contained and could rival 1918 flu pandemic that killed 50 million, experts warn

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/coronavirus-update-covid-19-is-far-from-contained-and-could-rival-1918-flu-pandemic-that-killed-50-million-experts-warn-2020-07-15

The coronavirus pandemic is far from contained and could end up rivaling the 1918 flu that killed more than 50 million people worldwide, two leading health experts are warning.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the head of the U.S. National Institute for Allergies and Infectious Diseases, said that outbreak, which he called “the mother of all pandemics,” could be repeated if more is not done to contain it, during an online event with students from Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday, the Guardian reported. Fauci has of late been the subject of a series of attacks on his credibility from White House officials, including President Donald Trump, for days now.

Separately, John M. Barry, a health sciences professor at Tulane University in New Orleans and author of “The Great Influenza: The Story of the Deadliest Pandemic in History,” warned that mistakes made in dealing with the U.S. outbreak — a failure to fully shut down until the country had achieved a steep downward trend in cases; a failure to get widespread buy-in for public health measures; and a failure to establish robust testing, tracing and isolating — has allowed the virus to spread, threatening lives and further disrupting the economy.

In an op-ed in the New York Times, Barry noted how, during the 1918 flu, almost every city closed down most of its activity.

“Fear and caring for sick family members did the rest; absenteeism even in war industries exceeded 50% and eviscerated the economy,” he wrote. “Many cities reopened too soon and had to close a second time — sometimes a third time — and faced intense resistance. But lives were saved.”

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