Summary:
New Delhi, Sep 23 (PTI) Is the worst of Covid over? Yes, say several scientists, perhaps for the first time in more than two years of a pandemic that affected every facet of life in every corner of the globe.
The pandemic will be over but Covid will be here to stay, the scientists said as Covid numbers begin to ebb in several parts of the world, including India.
The disease in its current form will still contribute to a steady background of cases, neither increasing sharply nor declining abruptly.
"A dwindling fraction of these cases will be severe enough to lead to death.
It is this new normal that we must become accustomed to," Gautam I Menon, professor, Departments of Physics and Biology, Ashoka University, told PTI.
“The world cannot function in a state of permanent heightened alertness,” Menon, who has been tracking Covid numbers since the beginning of the pandemic, added.
More than two years after declaring COVID-19 an international emergency, the World Health Organization (WHO) is now expressing optimism that the end of the COVID-19 pandemic is in sight.
"We have spent two-and-a-half years in a long, dark tunnel, and we are just beginning to glimpse the light at the end of that tunnel,” WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus Tedros said on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly on Thursday.
"But it is still a long way off, and the tunnel is still dark, with many obstacles that could trip us up if we don’t take care," he added.
Tedros said at a press conference last week that the world has never been in a better position to end the pandemic.
“We are not there yet, but the end is in sight," he said.
"This is certainly an indicator that a major phase of the current pandemic is now ending, although we should be careful how we interpret the word "ending"," Menon cautioned.
Epidemiologist Ramanan Laxminarayan agreed, saying Covid risk is lower as long as individuals are vaccinated so they should no longer worry about the pandemic as far their health is concerned.
"Due to vaccination and widespread population exposure, the risk of hospitalisation and death has come down a lot so in the sense of the public attention moving on, it is only to be expected," Laxminarayan, director of the Center for Disease Dynamics, Economics & Policy (CDDEP) in Washington, told PTI.
On September 22, the number of daily reported global deaths stood at 1,395, the lowest since March 2020, while the number of new cases was 4,28,321 (4.2 lakh), the lowest since October 2020, according to the WHO Coronavirus dashboard.
Daily cases peaked in January 2022, with numbers reaching 4,040,309 (40.4 lakh) on January 26.
The highest deaths were reported on July 21, 2021, with 20,005 mortality cases reported.
In India, the daily number of cases peaked at 4,14,188 on May 7, 2021, while June 10, 2021 saw highest death numbers of 6,148.