Doctors Association Kashmir (DAK) on Saturday said people need to learn to live with Covid-19 and get back to normal life.
“Covid-19 will become yet another infection joining many other diseases that humanity has learned to live,” said DAK President and influenza expert Dr Nisar ul Hassan.
Dr Hassan said we have entered into endemic stage of Covid-19 pandemic.
An infection becomes endemic when the rates become low and stable in a geographical area, meaning that the pathogen causing the disease – Covid in this case – is likely to remain in the circulation without causing large outbreaks as witnessed over the last 2 years.
“The virus is going to stay with us forever and we will be living with the virus for the rest of our lives, but the impact of the virus in terms of illness will lessen over time,” he said.
The DAK President said we will end up with a situation similar to the flu or common cold.
He said like flu, Covid could eventually become a seasonal illness. The 2009 H1N1 flu pandemic could offer a clue about the course of Covid-19.
The H1N1 pandemic was over in about 16 months, but the virus did not disappear. Instead it has turned into a seasonal flu strain that circulates all years, and peaks during winter.
“Covid could ultimately become another seasonal respiratory virus, like the four other coronaviruses that cause a sizeable proportion of common colds,” he said.
“With the transition from pandemic to endemic stage, Covid-19 is not going away. It is going to be with us, but will no longer be a disruptor of daily family and community life,” said Dr Nisar.