EIC

This virus may never go away

At a briefing yesterday, World Health Organization (WHO) representatives explained that COVID-19 “may never go away,” and may become endemic. They explained that there is still no way to determine how long the virus might circulate and that a “massive effort” is required to tackle it. 

At the online briefing, WHO emergencies expert Mike Ryan said, “I think it is important we are realistic, and I don’t think anyone can predict when this disease will disappear. I think there are no promises in this, and there are no dates. This disease may settle into a long problem, or it may not be.”

Currently, there are more than 100 vaccine candidates, which provides some hope. However, Ryan reminds us that other diseases, such as measles, already have a vaccine, but they have not disappeared.

As WHO epidemiologist Maria van Kerkhove says, “We need to get into the mindset that it is going to take some time to come out of this pandemic.”

Who is most at risk of death from COVID-19? 

There is already evidence supporting age and certain underlying health conditions as risk factors. A new study shows that belonging to an ethnic minority or a poorer socioeconomic background can also increase a person’s risk. 

The research, which a team from the University of Oxford, the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, and other institutions in the United Kingdom led, has not yet undergone peer review.

For their study, the investigators looked at the medical records of 17,425,445 people in the U.K., of whom 5,683 died from COVID-19 between February 1 and April 21. 

The results indicated that being male, being older, or having uncontrolled diabetes or severe asthma puts a person at greater risk of COVID-19 death than the rest of the population. 

Asian and black people, as well as those from poorer socioeconomic backgrounds, also had a significantly higher risk, which the team could not link to underlying health conditions.