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"This virus may never go away," WHO says


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"This virus may never go away," WHO says

By Emma Farge and Michael Shields

 

2020-05-13T184602Z_1_LYNXMPEG4C1U4_RTROPTP_4_HEALTH-CORONAVIRUS-WHO-BRIEFING.JPG

FILE PHOTO: Mike Ryan, Executive Director of the World Health Organisation (WHO), attends a news conference at the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland May 3, 2019. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse

 

GENEVA (Reuters) - The coronavirus that causes COVID-19 could become endemic like HIV, the World Health Organization said on Wednesday, warning against any attempt to predict how long it would keep circulating and calling for a "massive effort" to counter it.

 

"It is important to put this on the table: this virus may become just another endemic virus in our communities, and this virus may never go away," WHO emergencies expert Mike Ryan told an online briefing.

 

"I think it is important we are realistic and I don't think anyone can predict when this disease will disappear," he added. "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."

 

However, he said the world had some control over how it coped with the disease, although this would take a "massive effort" even if a vaccine was found -- a prospect he described as a "massive moonshot".

 

More than 100 potential vaccines are being developed, including several in clinical trials, but experts have underscored the difficulties of finding vaccines that are effective against coronaviruses.

 

Ryan noted that vaccines exist for other illnesses, such as measles, that have not been eliminated.

 

WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus added: "The trajectory is in our hands, and it's everybody's business, and we should all contribute to stop this pandemic."

 

Ryan said "very significant control" of the virus was required in order to lower the assessment of risk, which he said remained high at the "national, regional and global levels".

 

Governments around the world are struggling with the question of how to reopen their economies while still containing the virus, which has infected almost 4.3 million people, according to a Reuters tally, and led to over 291,000 deaths.

 

The European Union pushed on Wednesday for a gradual reopening of borders within the bloc that have been shut by the pandemic, saying it was not too late to salvage some of the summer tourist season while still keeping people safe.

 

But public health experts say extreme caution is needed to avoid new outbreaks. Ryan said opening land borders was less risky than easing air travel, which was a "different challenge".

 

"We need to get into the mindset that it is going to take some time to come out of this pandemic," WHO epidemiologist Maria van Kerkhove told the briefing.

 

(Reporting by Michael Shields and Emma Farge; Writing by Alex Richardson; Editing by Kevin Liffey)

 

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-- © Copyright Reuters 2020-05-14
 
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13 minutes ago, Mama Noodle said:

Cool cool cool.... In the meantime lets just crash the global economy and throw millions and millions of people in to poverty. 

Everything is going to plan. 

 

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31 minutes ago, Mama Noodle said:

Cool cool cool.... In the meantime lets just crash the global economy and throw millions and millions of people in to poverty. 

Be calm. US don’t listen to WHO and don’t pay their dues. 

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4 minutes ago, Inn Between said:

I would have chosen something like what you said, West Nile Virus or Malaria as a comparison. 

 

Well, one is a virus and the other is a parasite, both of which are carried by mosquitoes so.... Neither are good comparisons. 

 

5 minutes ago, Inn Between said:

If Covid-19 can kill a relatively high percentage of those who contract it, people won't take the same attitude until medicine of some sort comes along to make it non-lethal or at least only deadly to the same degree as the flu. We ALL get the flu, and usually more than once, at some time in our lives. If people getting the flu was often deadly to oneself or their elderly loved ones, we'd have a VERY different attitude towards it.   


Part of what makes covid such a pain in the ass is that its not very fatal at all, with a high incubation period and high transmissibility. SARS and MERS were much more fatal and much less infectious. 

 

Higher fatality rate makes the virus less transmissible than lower fatality rate. 

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2 hours ago, Mama Noodle said:

Cool cool cool.... In the meantime lets just crash the global economy and throw millions and millions of people in to poverty. 

 

Well I have stocked up on toilet paper and Doritos. Nancy is going to send me another check. So I am good to shelter in place forever.

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11 hours ago, Mama Noodle said:

 

Well, one is a virus and the other is a parasite, both of which are carried by mosquitoes so.... Neither are good comparisons. 

 


Part of what makes covid such a pain in the ass is that its not very fatal at all, with a high incubation period and high transmissibility. SARS and MERS were much more fatal and much less infectious. 

 

Higher fatality rate makes the virus less transmissible than lower fatality rate. 

Then why don’t you volunteer in a covid ward?? On a serious note let’s hope like hell a good vaccine is developed ASAP that could make a tremendous difference 

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11 hours ago, Mama Noodle said:

Part of what makes covid such a pain in the ass is that its not very fatal at all,

A statement which is contradicted by a recent data comparison.

 

Over 15 weeks in the US Covid-19 deaths from 1.2 million cases were - 68,442

Over 30 weeks in the US flu deaths from 44.8 million cases were - 61,099

 

https://www.healthline.com/health-news/why-covid-19-isnt-the-flu#More-deaths-in-a-shorter-span

 

 

 

Edited by simple1
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Just now, Mama Noodle said:

Do you guys just wake up and look for posts to contradict? The reason covid is such a problem VS SARS or MERS is that it is less fatal and more transmissible. 

Once everyone has caught it, there's no longer a problem (maybe 2 months left).

It's the diseases that are hard to catch but kill a high percentage of the infected that are a problem.

Some of us guys, wake up and think for ourselves.

Edited by BritManToo
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Human beings have learned to live with many plagues and they have changed the way we view them. That is to say, increased budgets for research, drugs and the factories that produce them and the way personal habits evolve. The Covid 19 case does seem to have initiated a 'control' aspect but we'll have to wait and see just how that goes.

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24 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

Once everyone has caught it, there's no longer a problem (maybe 2 months left).

It's the diseases that are hard to catch but kill a high percentage of the infected that are a problem.

Some of us guys, wake up and think for ourselves.

 

From a pandemic management standpoint, thats just not true. It just isn't. 

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"It is important to put this on the table: this virus may become just another endemic virus in our communities, and this virus may never go away," WHO emergencies expert Mike Ryan told an online briefing.

 

Well, hopefully this absolute idiot will go away soon. He should be arrested and imprisoned for inciting panic, with a statement that is so inane, it boggles the rational mind. From the beginning, the WHO has been leading the effort in panic mongering. Not helpful, at all. Facts are helpful. Ridiculously pessimistic speculation helps nobody. What we need now is hope, not statements of utter desolation and despair. Mike Ryan is a nitwit. Everything goes away eventually, except for the constant presence of idiots with little knowledge, and a platform to spout their ignorance. 

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