17th March, 2020
Lothar Wieler, President of Robert Koch Institute in Germany on Tuesday said coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic might go on for two years and develop in waves.
“The pandemic is developing in waves. We know this is exactly the case. But how fast are these waves? And when will this pandemic infect the projected 60 to 70 per cent of the world’s population? This can take years. We project it to be two years.’’
He added that the appearance of a vaccine or any intervention in the course of the pandemic would be useful.
“The sooner the vaccine is available, the sooner we will manage to contain this pandemic. But even when we get a vaccine, it does not mean that everyone will be vaccinated since it is connected with the amount of the vaccine.’’
According to the Koch Institute, there have been over 6,000 coronavirus cases in the country including 13 fatalities.
Wieler earlier said that coronavirus cases were obviously higher than the official count.
More than 180,000 COVID-19 cases in 155 countries and territories have been confirmed. The majority of the patients have recovered but more than 7,000 others have died.