COVID-19: It May Never Go Away, Says WHO Executive Director

GENEVA (Switzerland): New coronavirus clusters have surfaced around the world as nations struggle to balance reopening economies and preventing a second wave of infections, while executive director of World Health Organisation, Dr Michael Ryan said yesterday that COVID-19 could be around for a long time.

“This virus just may become another endemic virus in our communities and this virus may never go away. HIV has not gone away,” Dr Michael Ryan, executive director of the WHO was quoted as saying by CNN.

“I am not comparing the two diseases but I think it is important that we are realistic. I do not think anyone can predict when or if this disease will disappear,” he added.

Dr Michael Ryan said that it’s possible the new coronavirus may be here to stay. Without a vaccine, he said it could take years for the global population to build up sufficient levels of immunity.

He added that this virus may become just another endemic virus in our communities, noting that other previously novel diseases like HIV have never disappeared, but that effective treatments have been developed.

Talking about the worldwide lockdown imposed by countries, Ryan said there was “some magical thinking” that lockdowns work perfectly and that “unlocking lockdowns will go great”. He said that the lockdown doesn’t guarantee the halt of the second wave of coronavirus.

Countries should not be waiting to see if the opening of lockdowns has worked by counting the cases in the ICUs or observing the death toll.

The phase of the disease can only be observed by community-based surveillance and conducting more testing, further adjusting the public health measure in case to cope with any recurrent cases.

“Let us not go back in a situation where we don’t know what is happening until our hospitals are overflowing.”

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus added: “The trajectory is in our hands, and it’s everybody’s business, and we should all contribute to stop this pandemic.”

Ryan said “very significant control” of the virus was required in order to lower the assessment of risk, which he said remained high at the “national, regional and global levels”.

Governments around the world are struggling with the question of how to reopen their economies while still containing the virus, which has infected almost 4.3 million people, according to Johns Hopkins, and led to over 291,000 deaths.

from League of India