The new coronavirus will infect half of the global population and have a fatality rate of up to 3%, analysts said Wednesday.
“We assume that the virus will infect around 50% of the world population; 20% of the cases will be severe, and 1-3% will result in deaths,” analysts from the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) said in a note.
As a result of the pandemic, the EIU predicted global growth would stand at just 1% for 2020 — down from its outlook of 2.3% before the outbreak began. It would mark the lowest rate in global gross domestic product (GDP) growth since the global financial crisis, analysts noted.
Data from Johns Hopkins University showed on Wednesday that cases of COVID-19 have surpassed 200,000 worldwide, with more than 8,000 people killed by the virus globally. More than 82,000 people around the world have recovered from the virus, according to the data.
“Death ratios will depend on the capacity of countries to effectively detect, track, and contain the epidemic,” EIU analysts said. “Death ratios will be higher in countries with poor healthcare systems — in Sub-Saharan Africa for instance.