The British government claims there is a one-in-four chance another pandemic will occur in the next five years, hospitalizing around 1.34 million Britons and killing up to 840,000 in a “reasonable worst-case scenario” – unless a new vaccine is produced.
While over a century passed between the Spanish flu pandemic of 1918 and the Chinese coronavirus pandemic, British officials believe there is a good chance the next one will come along suspiciously quickly, outlining their concerns in the National Risk Register report to the Cabinet Office.
“[W]e need to be more open than ever about the risks we face,” wrote Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden in the foreword to the report.
“Government cannot tackle these challenges alone; due to our increasingly complex and interconnected world, all of society needs to work together to strengthen our defences and build a more resilient nation,” he insisted.
The report says the next pandemic “may come in single or multiple waves” depending on a variety of factors including “public behavior,” adding that it “may lead to behaviour changes in the population depending on the nature of the disease and the Government’s response.”
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