Coronavirus may be “at the brink” of a global pandemic

The coronavirus outbreak may be “at the brink” of a global pandemic, Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, tells Axios.

What’s new: Signs people are infecting each other in a more sustainable fashion in China, an uptick in confirmed cases in Japan and Singapore, and research showing people without symptoms may be able to infect each other are fueling concerns that COVID-19 will develop into a pandemic.

The latest: Based on Chinese data from more than 44,000 confirmed cases published Monday, the WHO says early indications are…

  • More than 80% of people who catch the infection experience mild symptoms, 14% have severe disease-like pneumonia and shortness of breath, and 5% come down with a critical disease like sepsis, multi-organ failure, and respiratory failure.
  • About 2% of people infected with the virus die from it — much less than other coronavirus outbreaks, SARS (~14%) and MERS (~35%).
  • “[T]he risk of death increases the older you are,” noted the WHO, while adding researchers were trying to determine why this is the case. Young children appear not to experience as severe symptoms as older adults.

Yes, but: Fauci said there remain many unknowns — where the virus originated from, how transmissible it is, how deadly it is, and if people without symptoms are infectious.

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