The World Health Organization (WHO) raised an important warning on being asked repeatedly about when the virus would go away and for how long this situation will prevail.
WHO pointed out that coronavirus may indeed never go away and may become endemic like HIV.
An endemic is when an infection is regularly found among particular people or in a certain area. Looking at the situation and also a second wave coming in, it is likely that coronavirus may never go away. WHO emergencies expert Mike Ryan said:
It is important to put this on the table: this virus may become just another endemic virus in our communities and this virus may never go away.
He further added that it is “important we are realistic and I don’t think anyone can predict when this disease will disappear.” He also stressed that there is no way to make promises or even expect a possible date for this to disappear.
But at the same time, this reality should not let us stay away from our focus on developing vaccines and doing everything possible to come to the best case scenario. Currently more than 100 vaccines are being developed with many in clinical trials.
While we all struggle to resume our lives or try to operate in the way we used to, it is equally important to train the mind to be realistic and practical. By accepting the fact that this virus will remain with us, we may somewhere acknowledge the uncertainties that will come our way.
It is a step by step process and waiting for an end result at this stage would only make things difficult.
Many countries are slowly opening up and attempting to restore to normalcy but the fact still remains that the new normal is still quite far away.