Coronavirus might be here forever, WHO official warns

‘I don’t think anyone can predict when or if this disease will disappear,’ Dr Mike Ryan says

Coronavirus may never disappear, a leading global health official has warned.

Dr Mike Ryan from the World Health Organisation (WHO) said Covid-19 could potentially “become just another endemic virus in our communities”.

"HIV has not gone away, we've come to terms with the virus and we have found the therapies and we found the prevention methods," the head of the organisation’s health emergencies programme said at a WHO press briefing, "and people don't feel as scared as they did before and we're offering long healthy life to people with HIV."

He added: "I don't think anyone can predict when or if this disease will disappear.”

The WHO’s chief scientist, Dr Soumya Swaminathan, recently said coronavirus could potentially be under control in four to five years' time.

A vaccine "seems for now the best way out", but there were "lots of ifs and buts" about its efficacy and safety, as well as its production and equitable distribution, she told the Financial Times' Global Boardroom Digital Conference.

When asked about the chief scientist’s comments, Dr Ryan said: “We have a new virus entering the human population for the first time, and therefore it is very hard to predict when we will prevail over it.

"What is clear, and I think maybe what Soumya may have been alluding to, is that the current number of people in our population who've been infected is actually relatively low.”

Dr Ryan added: "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."

The WHO official said finding a vaccine was “one great hope” and must be distributed “to everyone who needs it” for the virus to be effectively tackled.

Meanwhile, on countries reopening after lockdowns, Dr Ryan warned that surveillance systems and testing must be in place or it could be "days or weeks" before officials know the virus is "accelerating" again.

He said: "Let us not go back to a situation where we don't know what's happening until our hospitals are overflowing. That is not a good way to do business."

Countries which have been the some of the worst-hit by the virus have started relaxing some of their lockdown measures, with shops and hairdressers reopening in parts of mainland Europe.

The UK announced it would be easing some restrictions from this week, including letting people meet one person from outside their own household outdoors as long as they follow social distancing measures.

More than 4.35 million people have tested positive for coronavirus worldwide as of Thursday, according to a Reuters global count.

Around 295,700 people have died after contracting Covid-19, while an estimated 1,513,415 recoveries have been reported to date.

Press Association contributed to this report