CNBC reports that billionaire hedge fund manager Ray Dalio has described the coronavirus outbreak as an exciting turning point in history - one that could pave the way for greater societal progress.

The Bridgewater Associates founder highlighted the devastating human toll of the virus, which has so far infected more than 2.5 million globally, and its wide-reaching economic repercussions.

However, he went on to strike an optimistic note, saying that the financial fallout should be viewed in wider historical context.

Comparing the pandemic with other periods of economic hardship, such as the Great Depression, Dalio said the current downturn - painful as it is - would be "relatively brief" and would allow for a wider global "restructuring."

That restructuring could last three to five years, he said.

"I know that's a long time, but it's not forever," Dalio told. "The human capacity to adapt and invent and come out of this is much greater."

Dalio went on to say that people should be "very excited" about the phase that will come after that, pointing to leaps forward in digitization, data and human thinking. The 70-year-old businessman's assessment reflects wider observations from economists and historians that we are currently in the midst of a technological revolution.