CNBC: Covid will always be an epidemic virus — not an endemic one, scientist warns

Talk of COVID-19 becoming an endemic illness has escalated in recent weeks with the rise of the Omicron variant. However, some experts have warned against this characterization. Raina MacIntyre, a professor of global biosecurity at the University of New South Wales in Sydney has said case numbers in endemic diseases typically change over years, while COVID-19 takes days or weeks to change. 

The R0 equation is used to gauge how fast a disease is spreading. If the R0 score is greater than 1 the growth is exponential, Omicron’s has been estimated to be higher than 3. MacIntyre said it is not possible for COVID-19 infections to reach levels of endemic diseases like malaria, especially with the possibility of new variants developing. The full article by Chloe Taylor can be read here on CNBC. For more on COVID-19 click here.