WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION WARNS CORONAVIRUS “MAY NEVER GO AWAY”

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Source: Forbes

Coronavirus may never go away, the World Health Organization has warned, adding that no one can predict when the disease will disappear.


KEY FACTS

  • Nearly 300,000 people have died around the world after contracting COVID-19, while at least 4.3 million people have been infected since the illness was first reported in December 2019.
  • On Wednesday, WHO emergencies chief Dr Mike Ryan said at a press conference: “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.”
  • As an example, he added that HIV virus is still present, but that we have come to terms with the disease. Ryan said he does not believe anyone can predict when COVID-19 will “disappear,” and that there are “no promises and no dates.”
  • He suggested that even with a vaccine, the virus may still not be eliminated, but WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that the trajectory of the illness is “in our hands.”
  • But it will take time to emerge from the pandemic, epidemiologist Maria van Kerkhove said.

TANGENT

The WHO also warned that a mental health crisis is looming. Devora Kestel, head of the organization’s mental health department, warned of a rise in mental illness among young people and frontline workers as a result of the “isolation, the fear, the uncertainty, the economic turmoil” that could cause psychological distress. The report urged governments around the world to prioritise mental health and wellbeing.

KEY BACKGROUND

Coronavirus lockdowns around the world are gradually lifting, a move which is sparking concerns about a second wave of the virus. Dr Tedros acknowledged the desire to escape restrictions to daily life, but urged countries to remain on the highest alert.

Treatment or a vaccine for COVID-19 is, at best, a year away, although scientists at the University of Oxford and Imperial College London believe a vaccine could be available as early as September. Scores of potential vaccines are currently being developed around the world.