Nobel Laureate Says ‘End Of CoronaVirus Pandemic Is Near’

Michael Levitt

Michael Levitt, an American-British-Israeli biophysicist has an optimistic take on the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic. He received the 2013 Nobel Prize in chemistry for developing complex models of chemical systems. In his opinion, the fast-spreading disease is likely to come to a halt, but gradually. Levitt cited the slowing rate of increase in the number of deaths in China to support his hypothesis.

Levitt states that just like China, the United States too will get through the worst of the coronavirus. Although in his viewpoint, the US will come out of this soon.

The laureate was studying the number of coronavirus cases around the world back in January this year. According to him, the world needs to restrain the panic. And abide by the reasonable social distancing measures to counter the spread of Covid-19.

Levitt’s Stats

Levitt’s statistical conclusions had in February predicted that there would be around 80,000 cases in China with about 3,250 deaths. And his forecast turns out to be almost correct with a total tally of about 80,298 cases and 3,245 deaths by mid-February. He tells, despite the spread of coronavirus peaking in China, the country has been witnessing fewer newly diagnosed patients.

“We’re going to be fine,” he tells. He adds that the data doesn’t indicate months or years of social disruption or millions of deaths from the coronavirus.

After analyzing the data from 78 countries that report over 50 new cases of virus every single day, Levitt found some “signs of recovery”. His core focus was not on the cumulative figure but on the number of new cases identified every day. And, particularly, on the change in that number from one day to the next.

“Numbers are still noisy but there are clear signs of slowed growth,” he states. He affirms that social distancing and getting a vaccination against the flu are both very crucial to curb the spread.

Levitt says the media is causing unnecessary panic with constant updates on the total number of cases. And the celebrities who test positive for Covid-19. He even adds that social distancing measures can help reduce the spread of the coronavirus to keep the hospitals from getting overwhelmed.

Levitt also talks about how the anti-vaccine movement in virus-crippled Italy. He states it was a significant factor in the upsurge of cases, which raises the chances of coronavirus going undetected.