Tesla founder Elon Musk said he doesn’t believe in the mortality rates published by the World Health Organization.
During an appearance on the Joe Rogan Experience Thursday, Musk said the death rate associated with the coronavirus is “much less” than WHO experts have led the public to believe. He also said the “silver lining” of the pandemic is preparation for the possibility of an even deadlier infectious disease that could wipe out large portions of the world population.
“I think the mortality rate is much less than what is, then what say, the World Health Organization said it was, it’s much, much less, it’s, like, probably at least an order of magnitude less,” Musk told host Joe Rogan.
“At some point, there probably will be a pandemic with a high mortality rate. There’s debate about what’s high but, I mean, something that’s killing a lot of 20-year-olds,” Musk added. “Killing large numbers of young, healthy people … you can define that as a high mortality, then this is at least practice for something like that, and I think there’s … just a matter of time before there will eventually be some such pandemic.”
A study published by the Lancet medical journal in late March found that the fatality rate from those infected by the coronavirus is much lower than estimated by the WHO.
The WHO website showed more than 3.6 million confirmed COVID-19 cases and 254,000 confirmed deaths around the globe as of Thursday afternoon.
Rogan noted that the virus appears to affect a certain segment of the world population, which is older and possesses preexisting medical conditions. Musk agreed and claimed that younger, healthier people are, for the most part, defeating the disease with ease.
“You can look at the mortality statistics by age and whether they have comorbidities, like do they have basically existing conditions, and by age, and if you’re below 60 and have no serious health issues, the probability of death is extremely low.”
Musk, who has been a vocal skeptic of the coronavirus crisis, added that he felt like “people wanted a panic.” On April 29, Musk posted a series of tweets, including “FREE AMERICA NOW,” calling for the reopening of economies around the country.
Rogan, too, has been skeptical of government overreach during the coronavirus, saying on Tuesday that it is impossible to keep U.S. citizens in quarantine without an agreed-upon timetable to return to normal.
