Deaths from coronavirus and general infection rates may reach average rates of seasonal flu by the middle of next year, but provided there are no new more dangerous variants, TASS reports.

This was stated by the founder of Microsoft Corporation Bill Gates at the ongoing in Singapore "New Economic Forum", which was organized by businessman Michael Bloomberg.

He said that against the background of the development of natural immunity, vaccinations, the emergence of new drugs, "the mortality and morbidity rates should go down sharply."

He predicts that "in the absence of new strains, by the middle of next year these numbers could reach seasonal flu figures." At the same time, Gates called on "the global community to actively work on the eradication of influenza to reduce the threat of new pandemics.

In addition, the founder of Microsoft expects to "solve problems with the supply of vaccines against coronavirus next year.

Note that Bill Gates and his wife Melinda head a charitable foundation that has about $50 billion. Among the main activities of the organization are the fight against dangerous diseases in developing countries, health and education programs in the United States. Through the foundation, hundreds of millions of dollars have already been allocated to develop a vaccine against the coronavirus and to support the poor, who are most vulnerable to the pandemic.