Thursday, 28 March, 2024
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COVID-19 10-times more deadly than swine flu

The novel coronavirus is 10 times more deadly than swine flu, also called H1N1, which caused a global pandemic in 2009. France24 reports that this is according to the World Health Organisation (WHO), which is calling for control measures to be lifted “slowly”.

WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a virtual briefing from Geneva that the organisation was constantly learning about the new virus sweeping the globe. "We know that COVID-19 spreads fast, and we know that it is deadly, 10 times deadlier than the 2009 flu pandemic," he said.

WHO says 18,500 people died of "swine flu", or H1N1, which was first uncovered in Mexico and the US in March 2009, but others estimated the toll to be between 151,700 and 575,400.

More than half of the planet's population is currently staying home as part of efforts to stem the spread of the virus, but Tedros warned that "our global connectedness means the risk of re-introduction and resurgence of the disease will continue". He pointed out that while COVID-19 had accelerated quickly, "it decelerates much more slowly."

"In other words, the way down is much slower than the way up," he said, stressing that "control measures must be lifted slowly, and with control. It cannot happen all at once. Control measures can only be lifted if the right public health measures are in place, including significant capacity for contact tracing," he said.

Regardless of the efforts put in place, the WHO acknowledged that "ultimately, the development and delivery of a safe and effective vaccine will be needed to fully interrupt transmission".

[link url="https://www.france24.com/en/20200413-who-says-covid-19-is-10-times-more-deadly-than-swine-flu"]Full France24 report[/link]

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