Prognosis
What It Means to Accept Covid as an Endemic Disease
A healthcare worker collects swab sample from a resident for a Covid-19 test in Shanghai, China, on Nov. 6.
Photographer: Qilai Shen/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
Most of the world is done with Covid-19, though it clearly isn’t done with the world. Countries with the notable exception of China in 2022 unwound a bevy of restrictions designed to contain the coronavirus that causes Covid, and even China loosened its stern rules a bit. For the most part, political leaders and their constituents were eager to pivot to accepting Covid as an endemic disease, much like seasonal flu, even though the World Health Organization continued to designate SARS-CoV-2 a public health emergency of international concern.
1. What does endemic mean?