The head of the World Health Organization (WHO) expressed hope the novel coronavirus pandemic will be over in under two years.
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a regular briefing in Geneva, Switzerland, on Friday that it had taken two years for the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic to end, reports BBC.
However, he hoped that due to advancement of modern technology and science, it would take relatively “less time” to prevent the coronavirus epidemic.
“So, we hope to finish this pandemic before less than two years, especially if we can pool our efforts together, and with national unity, global solidarity – that’s really key – with utilizing the available tools to the maximum and hoping that we can have additional tools like vaccines, I think we can finish it in a shorter time than the 1918 flu,” he said.
The Spanish flu, which spread panic around the world in 1918, lasted for many days. But now there is a better health system than before, the WHO-head is optimistic.
The flu of 1918 killed at least 50 million people.
The coronavirus (Covid-19) so far killed 800,000 people worldwide. Around 23 million people have tested positive for the disease.
Michael Ryan, the WHO’s chief of emergency operations, said the 1918 epidemic came in three stages. The second was when it hit the winter of 1918. But in the case of coronavirus, there is no such movement, said Michael Ryan.
He also said there was no indication yet that the novel coronavirus would come in waves.
Many of the viruses that take the form of epidemics eventually come in a certain season. Corona’s path is not yet in that direction, Ryan said.
