WHO chief Scientist says we are soon going to enter the endemic stage of Covid-19:
The pandemic is not over yet, while we wait for the third wave, WHO chief scientist Soumya Swaminathan says we may be soon entering the epidemic stage. What does this really mean? The recent Covid data shows a decline in cases and deaths. But does this mean we are safe?
The WHO scientist says, India might be entering the endemic stage of Covid-19. And we need to figure out how we are going to cope up with the virus further.
Wondering what endemic is?
It is when people learn to live with the virus. As per the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, an endemic is the “constant presence and/or usual prevalence of a disease or infectious agent in a population within a geographic area”.
The scientist also says: “We may be entering some kind of stage of endemicity where there is low-level transmission or moderate level transmission going on but, we are not seeing the kinds of exponential growth and peaks that we saw a few months ago.”
“With a diverse population and immunity status in India, ups and down in cases will remain constant. But we need to be conscious enough, “Just like the Delta variant came upon us, we need to ensure that we are not caught by surprise by another variant.”
She further said:” It will be impossible to predict when, where the third wave will be upon us and if at all a third wave will come. However, you can make an educated guess on some of the variables that have an impact on transmission.”
We don’t need to panic but be prepared for the third wave. It is expected that Covid-19 vaccines will help us get back to normal and scientist Soumya says the world could reach this stage in a year and a half. i.e. by the end of 2022.
