..
..
https://twitter.com/KittySn52889207/status/1239390257356800000?s=19
..
EXPERTS say it is highly unlikely for Covid-19 to diminish like SARS as the number of positive cases grow each day all around the world.
Speaking to The Straits Times, Associate Professor Hsu Li Yang who is also the infectious diseases programme leader at the National University of Singapore’s Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health stated that the virus will probably stay until the end of this year.
The Straits Times’ senior health correspondent Salma Khalik also spoke to three other panellists besides Professor Hsu regarding this matter and it was broadcast live on the newspaper’s social media channels which lasted for one hour.
The other three are Associate Professor Kenneth Mak, director of medical services at the Ministry of Health (MOH); Professor Leo Yee Sin, executive director of the National Centre for Infectious Diseases; and Professor Tikki Pangestu, a visiting professor at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy and former director of the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) research policy and cooperation department.
Three possible scenarios were outlined by Professor Pangestu regarding the Covid-19 outbreak.
Scenario one; it would continue to be an emergency as more countries will have outbreaks with some severe cases.
Scenario two; the virus might completely disappear like SARS outbreak which took almost 800 lives in 2003 globally.
Scenario three; the virus becomes endemic like H1N1 swine flu virus and humankind has to live with its unrelenting existence.
“The third scenario is what the WHO is thinking of. It’s going to become part of our daily existence,“ he said.
Adding to that, Professor Leo stated that it is unlikely for scenario two to happen.
The new Covid-19 is spread differently compared to SARS. Patients with Covid-19 tend to discharge the virus earlier making it difficult to control, she added.
“With the way things are going, Covid-19 won’t disappear in one to two months. We have to be prepared mentally. We might have to consider the outbreak a new normal,“ said Professor Mak.
WHO has declared Covid-19 as pandemic on March 11, as the number of confirmed cases increasing globally, and the epicentre of the outbreak has shifted from China, where the outbreak initially started.
..
weehingthong 