Living with endemic coronavirus

THE World Health Organisation declared Covid-19 as an outbreak of Public Health Emergency and International Concern (PHEIC) on Jan 30, 2020. A few weeks later on March 11, WHO declared it as a pandemic, which meant it was spreading globally.

Of late, another word is being associated with Covid-19 – “endemic”. This means the SARS-CoV-2 virus, which causes Covid-19, will not be fully eradicated but will instead continue to circulate in pockets of the global population.