Coronavirus Prediction: Nobel Laureate Michael Levitt Says Spread Is Slowing, Emphasizes On Social Distancing

Nobel laureate Michael Levitt has predicted that coronavirus is slowing down and that the recovery will be quicker than expected.

After analyzing the coronavirus cases worldwide, the American-British-Israeli biophysicist had calculated and predicted that the deadly virus would disappear from China by the end of March.

He noted that on Jan. 30, China reported 42 deaths and the following day, the country reported 46 deaths due to the virus. Although the number had increased, the rate of increase had begun to fall. Predicting that the number of deaths would decrease with each passing day, Levitt said, “This suggests that the rate of increase in number of the deaths will slow down even more over the next week.”

Speaking to Chinese media at the end of February, the 2013 Nobel prize winner for chemistry had predicted that the country would end up with around 80,000 cases and approximately 3,250 deaths. His prediction was accurate as the country reported a total of 80,298 cases and 3,245 death as of March 16.

Now, Levitt foresees a similar outcome for other countries in the world including the United States. After analyzing 78 countries, he stated that "What we need is to control the panic. We're going to be fine.”

"Numbers are still noisy but there are clear signs of slowed growth,” he added.

Pointing out that social distancing was mandatory, he said, “This is not the time to go out drinking with your buddies."

Meanwhile, speaking about higher death rate in Italy, Levitt said it was likely because Italy had a greater percentage of elderly people compared to countries like China.

“Furthermore, Italian culture is very warm, and Italians have a very rich social life. For these reasons, it is important to keep people apart and prevent sick people from coming into contact with healthy people," he said.