https://slate.com/technology/2020/03/coronavirus-covid19-pandemic-cause-prediction-prevention.html

“It’s our everyday way of going about business on the planet that seems to be driving this.”

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What do you mean when you say that?

We’re not doing it on purpose, but it’s our everyday way of going about business on the planet that seems to be driving this. The big things that drive these diseases are places on the planet where there’s lots of wildlife diversity, because they carry viruses, some of which can become pandemics in places where the human population is dense and growing. Because our contact with wildlife is higher, there’s more of a chance for viruses to get to us.

So humans are bumping up against these very diverse ecosystems.

It’s the way we bump up against them. I’ve found that things like land use, change, deforestation, road building, mining, and agricultural intensification are the reasons we push ourselves into wildlife habitat and get infected.


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Do you think there’s gonna be chaos in the next few weeks?

It depends. There’s going to be chaos at certain levels. As all of us eventually get to know someone who’s been infected, no matter how logical you are, you’ll start to get some fear and then think, how did I make contact? Am I at risk? What am I doing wrong? I think in some cases there are going to be significant outbreaks that are just seeded and moving forward. And when we find out about them, they’re going to be pretty hard to control.