Draft:COVID-19 Endemic

COVID-19 is a highly contagious respiratory infection that infects over 3 million people each year inside of the United States. The disease ranges from mild to severe. The symptoms of COVID-19 can vary but often include sore throat, headache, fever, fatigue, cough, breathing difficulties, loss of smell, loss of taste, and runny nose. Symptoms may begin one to fourteen days after exposure to the virus. Many people also develop a long-term condition called long-COVID. Although anyone can get it, most people who develop the condition are people that had severe symptoms from infection. Most people from the condition recover within 2 years, but some actually get life-long symptoms.

COVID‑19 transmission occurs when infectious particles are breathed in or come into contact with the eyes, nose, or mouth. The risk is highest when people are in close proximity, but small airborne particles containing the virus can remain suspended in the air and travel over longer distances, particularly indoors. Transmission can also occur when people touch their eyes, nose or mouth after touching surfaces or objects that have been contaminated by the virus. Studies suggest that even though younger children are less likely to develop severe symptoms, they are more likely to spread the respiratory infection than other age groups.

The impact of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, has changed dramatically since when COVID-19 was in the pandemic phase. Although COVID-19 remains common, when compared to the pandemic, individual infections are less likely to result in severe illness for most people. COVID-19 poses the highest risk for older adults, infants, and people with pre-existing medical conditions, and there are multiple ways people and communities can help reduce their risk of infection. COVID-19 vaccines are available to prevent severe infection, and there are antiviral drugs also approved to reduce severe symptoms or prevent catching COVID-19 if someone you know has the virus. However, antiviral drugs are not a substitute for the annual COVID-19 vaccine.

The COVID-19 pandemic started as an epidemic that caused pneumonia-like symptoms in Wuhan, China, that was reported in December 2019. The World Health Organization (WHO) declared the outbreak a public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC) on January 30, 2020, and assessed the outbreak as having become a pandemic on March 11, 2020. After the pandemic was announced, lockdowns were announced. Mutations have produced many strains (variants) with varying degrees of infectivity and virulence. COVID-19 vaccines were developed rapidly and deployed to the general public beginning in December 2020, made available through government and international programs such as COVAX, aiming to provide vaccine equity. Treatments include novel antiviral drugs and symptom control. Common mitigation measures during the public health emergency included travel restrictions, lockdowns, business restrictions and closures, workplace hazard controls, mask mandates, quarantines, testing systems, and contact tracing of the people contracting the virus. The pandemic caused severe social and economic disruption around the world, including the largest global recession since the Great Depression. Widespread supply shortages, including food shortages, were caused by supply chain disruptions and panic buying. Reduced human activity led to an unprecedented temporary decrease in pollution. Educational institutions and public areas were partially or fully closed in many jurisdictions, and many events were cancelled or postponed during 2020 and 2021. Telework became much more common for white-collar workers as the pandemic evolved. Misinformation circulated through social media and mass media, and political tensions intensified. The pandemic raised issues of racial and geographic discrimination, health equity, and the balance between public health imperatives and individual rights. The WHO ended the PHEIC for COVID-19 on 5 May 2023. The disease has continued to circulate. Most experts were certain that the disease was endemic, and most public health centers began calling the disease endemic. Because many were uncertain, the CDC even announced the COVID-19 pandemic to an end. The seasonality of COVID-19 is complicated, but there are typically peaks every winter and summer. However, the disease still circulates year-round. The peaks in summer likely happen due to hot weather, human behavior patterns, and an easily mutating virus create the perfect recipe for COVID’s peak in the summer. But in the winter, when the air is drier, those droplets of COVID-19 may hang in the air for longer periods of time and can spread further. It also turns out that a person’s immunity does not function as well in the winter months. Another reason is because people are all crowded indoors.