According to Chen Chien-Jen, Taiwan's Vice-President and a leading epidemiologist, coronavirus is here to stay; just as we cope with a yearly outbreak of influenza that claims society's vulnerable as victims, we may have to adapt to a yearly coronavirus outbreak.
"Covid-19 is becoming flu-like," he told The Telegraph. "It means that since it is highly contagious with many mild or asymptomatic cases, and can be transmitted through droplets ... we won’t get rid of this virus totally."
Chen added that countries would need to develop "rapid diagnostics" as well as the ability to treat mild cases in local clinics rather than in hospitals, using anti-virals until a vaccine could be developed, possibly within a year.
Until then, "we need to keep social distancing ... living ... semi-normally," he said.