Medical reports from years ago have started to emerge over the past few months, indicating that the COVID-19 pandemic was already predicted even before the first few confirmed cases were reported.
Johns Hopkins Scenario Report
Roughly three years before COVID-19 was coded and given a specific coronavirus identification, the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security published a virus scenario that the researchers believe could come to pass in 2025.
The researchers called the virus SPARS-CoV. They said there was no information about the novel coronavirus and no rapid diagnostic tests would be available. A vaccine has yet to be developed and there are no known treatments for the disease.
In the report, it was predicted that several American travelers to Asia would contract what the researchers referred to as "an unknown, influenza-like illness."
"It's not long before the SPARS outbreak erupts into a global pandemic," the scenario report read.
Furthermore, the researchers noted that the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) would issue an Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) to use an antiviral drug that raises hopes for a potential SPARS treatment.
The Johns Hopkins scenario report is just one of several other predictions surrounding COVID-19, the virus that has infected millions around the world and killed hundreds of thousands of people.
Bill Gates and Others
In May, it was reported that business mogul Bill Gates warned U.S. President Donald Trump about a potential pandemic before Trump took office, joining other health experts in predicting the events the world is experiencing today.
While several other pop culture writers and authors appear to have predicted the novel coronavirus in the past, experts said the predictions from both authors and medical analysts have a similar tone, noting that the world was unprepared for the arrival of COVID-19.
On the side of pop culture, the 2011 movie "Contagion" that starred Gwyneth Paltrow told the story of a virus outbreak that was shown in the film to kill around 20 percent of those infected with the virus called MEV-1.
There's also the Sylvia Browne's "End of Days: Predictions and Prophecies about the End of the World." Browne wrote in the book that "around 2020 a severe pneumonia-like illness" woul infect people around the world.
Most of the reports being spread on social media are speculation and have yet to be proven but pages of Browne's book and clips of Contagion have already spread online.
COVID-19 Facts That Appear to Match Past Predictions
As of Tuesday, there were over 27.6 million confirmed coronavirus cases around the world. The United States remains the hardest-hit country, with 6,513,962 COVID-19 infections.
Lives claimed by the novel coronavirus have reached over 898,000 globally, with the U.S. inching closer to the 200,000-mark. The world's largest economy has so far lost 190,327 lives to the disease.
As was the case in the Johns Hopkins report, there is still no vaccine for the novel coronavirus but multiple pharmaceuticals are racing toward developing a sure vaccine that will pass all global regulations and quality control.
While in the movie "Contagion" around 20 percent of people were infected with the fictional virus MEV-1, the real-world COVID-19 has killed nearly 900,000 people, and health analysts are expecting more deaths from the novel coronavirus before the end of the year.
Finally, Browne's supposed 2020 prediction of a pneumonia-like virus sweeping the globe is still very close to the beginnings of COVID-19, as the virus was detected late last year.
Predictions from the past have been the center of talks on social media, but health experts noted that the public should still rely on official data and facts as the novel coronavirus continues to infect people and claim lives.
