(Newer)
Everyone has been familiar with the word “pandemic” in the past year. Now, the Wall Street Journal reports that we will probably have to shift our thinking to COVID to use ‘endemic’ instead. This means that the virus can be with us for years or sometimes permanently, such as the flu. This does not mean that draconian limitations would remain either – a disease is endemic if it is ‘persistently present but manageable’, write Daniela Hernandez and Drew Hinshaw. But it can mean long-term changes in smaller ways – a quick swipe before we enter a concert, we say. The story notes that a lot of home industries are popping up to take advantage and revolve around things like quick testing, ventilation, filters and new COVID treatments.
“Going through the five phases of sadness, we need to get to the acceptance phase that our lives are not going to be the same,” said former CDC chief Thomas Frieden. “I don’t think the world has really taken up the fact that these are long-term changes.” Meantime:
- School: The AP reports that school administrators across the country are planning to continue continuing education in the fall, despite hopes that President Biden wants the opposite. First, there are no vaccines left for children.
- Re-infections: The Magazine story notes that COVID seems particularly adept at lingering in part because of how easily it spreads and mutates, and a separate story by the AP illustrates why. Evidence is growing that once infected people may not be safe for re-infection of one of the rapidly spreading variants, according to new research.
(Read more COVID-19 stories.)