Coronavirus: All you need to know about the next normal that experts are preparing for

The pandemic has been with us for three years almost and it is here to stay. With a substantial number of cases still coming up, there is no end in sight, but, it cannot be denied that the number of cases have decreased and so has the intensity of the current Omicron variant in comparison to the former Delta variant that brought about the second wave which swept the entire world. With the number of cases decreasing every day, it is believed that the pandemic is in the second or the deceleration stage.

The director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. Dr. Anthony Fauci categorizes the pandemic into five phases. The first being the pandemic itself, in which the entire world is in the grip of the disease. The second phase entails a slowdown in newly emerging cases and is called deceleration which is resonant with the present scenario. The third phase is called control and involves a considerable decline in the hospitalization and death rates with the disease becoming a part of everyday lives like the flu. The penultimate stage is that of elimination in which the disease is eliminated from certain parts of the world but not entirely. The last stage is that of eradication and it entails a proper, complete and global elimination of the disease which is quite unlikely to happen considering the fact that small pox is the only disease to have been entirely eradicated from the planet.

However, with the world striving for the next normal, here is all you need to know about the present status of the pandemic.

It is only natural to change our response with the changes that are happening vis-à-vis the pandemic. The major factors that led to a change in the response towards the pandemic have been found to be the number of cases; the daily trends and changes in the numbers. Along with this, the changes in immunity have also been influential in modelling changes in the response towards the pandemic.

A variety of changes have been suggested, keeping in mind the current situation and this twelve pointer roadmap that aims to take the United States beyond the pandemic has been written and reviewed by several public health experts. The changes are aimed at achieving an endemic stage and dealing with covid-19 like the seasonal flu. A plethora of changes such as an increase in the annual production of rapid test kits and focusing largely on respiratory illnesses will be put in place. However, merely devising a plan is not enough, it is also equally important to not be complacent in one’s approach towards the situation. Sustaining the changes is equally important and a well-devised would be needed for that, too.

Even if countries take initiatives and concrete measures to control and live with the pandemic in its decelerating phase, there is no surety of achieving a complete stable situation for the threat of a new variant looms large over our heads. These threats are very real and should not be underestimated because the previous variants have wreaked havoc after the virus mutated. A plethora of experts unanimously agreed as to the possibility of emergence of another variant because of potential mutations and it is thus important to keep in mind that following. Covid appropriate behaviors is not a form of ‘excessive’ or redundant caution but is the need of the hour in order to protect immunocompromised and aged populations.