Scientists say the coronavirus is at least as deadly as the 1918 flu pandemic

The coronavirus is at least as deadly as the 1918 flu pandemic and the death toll could even be worse if world leaders and public health officials fail to adequately contain it, researchers warned in a study published Thursday in the medical journal JAMA Network Open.

“What we want people to know is that this has 1918 potential,” lead author Dr. Jeremy Faust said in an interview, adding the outbreak in New York was at least 70% as bad as the one in 1918 when doctors didn’t have ventilators or other advances to help save lives like they do today.  “This is not something to just shrug off like the flu.”