‘I’m scared’: Johns Hopkins expert says coronavirus is totally unprecedented
With diagnosed COVID-19 cases passing 1 million worldwide and communities around the globe on lockdown, the coronavirus pandemic has claimed a place as one of the most serious public health crises in living memory, an emergency that pandemic expert Eric Toner says is “unlike anything we’ve seen before.” Toner, of Johns Hopkins University, sat down with CNET’s Claire Reilly to shed light on the scale of what the world is facing.
What we know:
- More than 54,000 people have died from COVID-19, the illness caused by the novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2).
- The US has the highest number of cases, outstripping China, where the virus originated, as well as secondary outbreak zones in Italy and Spain. The current global count: more than 1 million infections.
- Many countries failed to adequately prepare, according to Toner: “We in the US can’t claim to be surprised.”
- Unprecedented danger calls for unprecedented measures: “This is unlike anything we’ve seen before,” Toner says. “And there is no way to completely stop this. It can’t be contained, it can only be slowed down.”
