As COVID-19 is spreading worldwide and the death toll is continuing to rise, the public has been asking the same question: "When will the pandemic end?"
WHO will probably reveal the pandemic ends as soon as the infection is mostly restrained and transmission rate drops significantly throughout the world. However, it depends on what global governments choose to do next.
Photo Source: The New Indian Express
They have three main alternatives.
1. Race through it.
Governments and communities do nothing to stop the spread but allow people to be exposed as quickly as possible.
Soon the majority of people would be infected. They may die from the virus or the collapse of health care systems.
Or else, they survive by developing their immunity.
At this point, the virus could no longer survive because they cannot find new hosts.
Although the pandemic ends a short time after it started, the cost is high as no every single person can survive after being infected.
Photo Source: TheScientist
2. Delay and Vaccinate.
Governments and communities around the world take time to do research and produce vaccines.
This tactics also include widespread testing to identify carriers, quarantining the infected and people they’ve interacted with,
and physical distancing.
With these measures in place, the virus slowly spreads, some cities get the outbreak under control and go back to business as usual.
Within the next several years, one or possibly several vaccines become widely, and hopefully freely, available.
Photo Source: TheScientist
3. Coordinate and Crush.
This idea is to concurrently crave the virus through a combination of quarantine, social distancing, and restricting travel.
The critical factor is to synchronize responses, in which every leader coordinates properly and treats the world as an enormous interconnected system.
If this happens, the pandemic would end in just a few months with a low loss of life.
However, there will be risks of intensifying to pandemic levels once again unless the virus is completely eradicated.
Photo Source: Houston Methodist
So which strategy is best for this deadly, infectious respiratory virus?
Racing through it is a quick solution, but would be a global disaster, and may not work at all if people can be reinfected.
Crushing the virus through coordination alone is only guaranteed with real and approximately impossible global cooperation.
That’s why vaccination, supported by global coordination, is generally considered to be the winner.
Even if the pandemic officially ends before a vaccine is ready, the virus may reappear seasonally, so vaccines will proceed to protect people.
Source: YouTube Channel of Ted-Ed
