Explainer: What will happen to coronavirus post pandemic wave?

New Delhi, Apr 21: The number of positive coronavirus cases has continued to increase across the world as millions of people are confined to their homes. However, several government officials from across the world are still thinking about how and when lockdowns can be lifted and normalcy can resume.

With a vaccine that is at least more than a year away, researchers and scientists are worried about what the post-pandemic transmission can look like and its possibility of future outbreaks.

What are the post pandemic possibilities of coronavirus outbreak:

According to several reports on coronavirus, the researchers have noted two possibilities. The COVID-19 virus could be eliminated through public health measures. However, it is obvious that public health authorities do not consider to follow this procedure.

The transmission of the novel coronavirus could be similar to the influenza pandemic, which circulated seasonally after the initial global wave of infections.

It can be seen that SARS-CoV-2 may appear to be milder than SARS-CoV-1 and MERS when compared to other coronaviruses. But, it is more severe than HCoV-OC43 and HCoV-HKU1. High infectiousness at the start of onset, mild symptoms is what makes SARS-CoV-2 difficult to control.

Also, the timing of mitigation and the intensity would determine the future spread of the virus.

By taking all these aspects into consideration, researchers claimed that all modelled scenarios, SARS-CoV-2 is capable of producing outbreaks. They projected that a winter or spring outbreak would produce lower peaks, while an autumn or winter outbreak would produce more acute peaks.