Covid-19 "is very likely to be an epidemic that coexists with humans for a long time," a leading Chinese scientist told Chinese media, as reported by Bloomberg News.
Unlike the coronavirus' near relative SARS, Covid-19 has a high transmission rate due in part to the high number of asymptomatic cases of the virus. SARS was far more deadly, but that in itself led to its relatively speedy demise, because people were so sick that they didn't go out and spread the virus to others. China is currently identifying dozens of new and asymptomatic cases every day, even though it still claims that it has the epidemic under control.
Now the voices calling for a "controlled spread" of the virus have become emboldened, despite the known cost in lives, because no country can envisage being in lockdown for many months longer, and certainly not years.
In addition, any seasonal decline in the coronavirus will likely be offset by the uptick in infections in the southern hemisphere, now entering winter.
So far, more than 3 million people are known to have contracted the virus, and over 200 thousand have died