COVID-19 Might Stay for Two Years…or More, Says APB’s Dr. Michael Osterholm
08 May 2020
With Americans believing COVID-19 might end by the summer, APB speaker, COVID-19 expert and Director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy, Dr. Michael Osterholm, says that this pandemic can last up to 18 months, or more. Dr. Osterholm told CNN, "This thing's not going to stop until it infects 60 to 70 percent of people (…) the idea that this is going to be done soon defies microbiology.” He believes that government officials should not be telling citizens that COVID-19 will be ending soon, but instead, they should tell them to prepare for the long haul. Out of the three different scenarios experts laid out for CNN, they all agreed on the common theme of constant “waves” for this pandemic in the coming years.
Hailed by CNN as “the infectious disease expert who has been warning us for a decade and a half that the world will face a pandemic,” Dr. Osterholm quickly became the go-to authority on the public health impact of COVID-19. He predicted a pandemic similar to COVID-19 in his bestselling book, Deadliest Enemy: Our War Against Killer Germs, in which he lays out a nine-point plan to prevent “the unthinkable from the inevitable.” As one of the world’s most accomplished epidemiologists, he continues to keep the world informed on the seriousness and severity of COVID-19 and its progression.