COVID-19 Becomes Endemic, What's The Difference From A Pandemic?

Photo illustration (Source: Antara)

JAKARTA - The World Health Organization (WHO) said that COVID-19 will be endemic. This statement was made nearly one year since COVID-19 was declared a global pandemic on March 11, 2020. What is the difference between a pandemic and an endemic?

As reported from the official website of the Ministry of Education and Culture (Kemendikbud), endemic is a disease that infects an area or a group of people.

Endemic is the constant occurrence of a disease within a geographic area. Examples of endemic diseases in Indonesia are malaria and dengue fever.

Meanwhile, a pandemic is an epidemic that affects a large geographical area. Pandemics usually spread across countries or continents and affect large numbers of people.

COVID-19 is endemic

In the midst of discussions about the poor handling of the COVID-19 pandemic in Indonesia, news emerged that said the COVID-19 pandemic would be endemic. On the one hand, this news can mean that the new coronavirus will not disappear from the face of the earth, but on the other hand, this can also be interpreted as a fresh breeze that brings the world into a better condition.

The Nature survey revealed that many scientists believe COVID-19 will become endemic and its effects will diminish over time. So does this mean that the coronavirus pandemic will end soon? What would the world be like if corona became an endemic disease? And how can the COVID-19 pandemic change its status to endemic?

In a survey of more than 100 immunologists, virologists, and infectious disease researchers, nearly 90 percent said COVID-19 would be endemic. That means, the spread of the virus or disease will be constant and tend to be controlled within a certain geographic area according to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC).

For example, the case of the spread of flu in the United States (US), and there are four types of endemic coronaviruses that cause body fever. In Indonesia, one example of endemic disease is malaria in Papua.

Professor of Immunology from the University of La Jolla USA, Erica Ollman Saphire said if COVID-19 becomes endemic, it means that this virus will never disappear from the face of the earth. Even so, Saphire also said people would live better lives overall. "And do not get sick from the virus," Saphire said, as quoted by CNBC.

We have discussed the issue of a year of the COVID-19 pandemic and its endemic in depth through last week's special VOI Article Series: The World May Be Better If Covid-19 Becomes Endemic.

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