Coronavirus is 'not going to disappear': UK's chief medical officer

UK’s chief medical officer has not only declared that COVID-19 disease “is not going to disappear” in the near future, but also cautioned that people will have to follow social distancing measures "for the rest of the year". As the death toll of the pandemic surpassed 18,100 in the UK on April 23, Professor Chris Whitty has said that it would be “wholly unrealistic” to expect the life would return to normalcy after the UK successfully contains the outbreak. While leaders across the globe are struggling to strike a balance between flattening the curve of coronavirus spread and the declining economy, Whitty reportedly believes that the only “ideal way” to continue life, in the long run, is to develop a “highly effective vaccine” or drugs that can treat the highly contagious disease. 

During the daily briefing of the British government, the UK’s top medical adviser said that since the disease is “not going to be eradicated”, the citizens have to “accept” that the world is currently dealing with a pandemic which will remain globally “for the foreseeable future”. Till now, the UK has recorded 133,495 cases of coronavirus and Whitty claims the deaths due to the disease will not suddenly plunge. The only two ways that the UK’s medical chief sees out of the health crisis is to either have a vaccine or a drug to cure the illness, especially in vulnerable people.  

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However, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s government is surrounded by criticism over its response to the deadly coronavirus. Recently, he also received a call for an inquiry into the government’s handling of the pandemic by Ed Davey, the acting leader of the opposition Liberal Democrats. The British government has not only reportedly failed to explain the partial death data but also the limited testing and lack of equipment in the hospitals. 

Global death toll of COVID-19 outbreak

After originating from China’s “wet markets”, the coronavirus has now claimed 184,248 lives worldwide as of April 23. According to the tally by international news agency, the pandemic has now spread to 210 countries and has infected at least 2,638,477 people. Out of the total infections, 721,997 have been recovered but the easily spread virus is continuing to disrupt many lives. Major cities have been put under lockdown in almost all countries and the economy is struggling. 

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(Image source: AP)