IN DEPTHINFECTIOUS DISEASES
Will novel virus go pandemic or be contained?
Kai Kupferschmidt, Jon Cohen
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Science 07 Feb 2020:
Vol. 367, Issue 6478, pp. 610-611
DOI: 10.1126/science.367.6478.610
With the limited information so far, scientists are sketching out possible paths that the virus might take, weighing the likelihoods of each, and trying to determine the fallout. “We're at this stage where defined scenarios and the evidence for and against them are really important because it allows people to plan better,” says Marc Lipsitch, an epidemiologist at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. These scenarios break into two broad categories: The world gets the virus under control—or it doesn't.
Scenario 1: containment
Scenario 2: pandemic