New York: “Covid-19 virus may become just another endemic virus in our communities, and this virus may never go away” said Mike Ryan, WHO emergencies expert an online briefing on Wednesday. This disease may settle into a long problem or it may not be.

Covid-19 could become endemic like HIV, said WHO late on Wednesday. He however 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”. HIV has not gone away, but we have come to terms with it. Meanwhile, the UN warned that the pandemic was sparking a major global mental health crisis.

Even when the pandemic is brought under control, grief, anxiety and depression will continue to affect people and communities, said UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres. Separately he indicated the shape of things to come atleast in the near future, world leaders unlikely to come or meet in person in New York where the UN General Assembly meets annually in September.