Covid will soon be endemic; it will not go away

Several experts have questioned whether the current pandemic will shift into an endemic phase.

The United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention defined an epidemic as the prevalence of a particular disease that is usually present in a community. The CDC also noted that epidemic could also refer to a sudden increase in the number of cases of a disease which is “above what is normally expected in that population in that area”.

This means that an epidemic refers to the start of a disease that is rapidly spreading within a community or region. In March 2020, the WHO declared COVID-19 as a pandemic after it has spread globally and due to its severity. According to Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health, WHO declares a pandemic “when a disease’s growth is exponential”. In being declared a pandemic, the virus has nothing to do with virology, population immunity, or disease severity.

The possibility is not remote for SARS-CoV-2 to become a “forever virus”, according to experts. This means that the virus causing COVID-19 might continue to spread among populations across the world.