As Méditerranée university hospital head Professor Didier Raoult thinks the epidemic is “disappearing”, others are more pessimistic, not to say scaremongering. This is the case of the WHO, or World Health Organization. According to WHO emergencies expert Michael Ryan, Covid-19 may, on the contrary, “never go away”. If it was to happen, we would have to learn to live with the virus.
"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" he explained during a virtual press brief in Geneva, before adding: “I think it is important we are realistic and I don’t think anyone can predict when this disease will disappear”. Michael Ryan goes even further since he thinks Covid-19 may “become just another endemic virus in our communities”. The WHO emergencies director takes HIV as an example, a virus that “has not gone away – but we have come to terms with the virus” he explained.
As many European countries are no longer confined, the population must keep making efforts and remain cautious, keeping barrier gestures and social distancing. “The trajectory is in our hands, and it’s everybody’s business, and we should all contribute to stop this pandemic”, Ryan added.
As of today, the Covid-19 pandemic has killed about 300,000 people worldwide.
In a video released this May 12th, Professor Didier Raoult thinks the Covid-19 epidemic is ending. “It’s an episode that is ending. There’s been no second wave anywhere. It’s the normal epidemic curve, surely including sporadic cases here and there with a super-contagious virus carrier who will contaminate people around them. But all this no longer shows an epidemic dynamic”. To say this, Professor Raoult uses Marseilles – where he works – as example and says “only one Covid-19 case” has been reported this Monday “in 1,200 tests”.
