Top medical experts in China said that the novel coronavirus will not be eliminated, contributing to an increasing worldwide consensus that the disease is likely to reemerge in waves like the flu.
The new virus is unlikely to vanish like its close relative SARS did 17 years ago, because it sickens some people without causing noticeable symptoms such as fever.
This group of so-called asymptomatic carriers makes it difficult to completely control transmission because they can spread the virus undetected, a group of Chinese viral and medical researchers told reporters at a briefing Monday in Beijing.
According to Jin Qi, chief of the Institute of Pathogen Biology at the Academy of Medical Sciences in Beijing, it is highly possible the virus has co-existed with humans for a long time, becomes seasonal and is sustained within our bodies.
The news outlet announced that a consensus is emerging among the world's leading experts and governments that the virus is unlikely to be contained. As of Tuesday morning, the US announced more than one million cases of coronavirus and 56,000 deaths - with a total of over three million cases worldwide and 212,000 deaths.
Those diagnosed with SARS became gravely ill. When put in isolation, the virus ceased to spread. In comparison, despite having its outbreak under control, China is still reporting thousands of asymptomatic coronavirus cases every day.
Government-operated China Daily announced that Jin said there was little hope of locating "patient zero," the first coronavirus infected person. He said that finding the first COVID-19 case was a highly difficult scientific issue requiring a great deal of "interdisciplinary study."
Jin pointed out that If patient zero is asymptomatic or has mild symptoms, the person may not have consulted with a doctor and left a medical record.
Some experts predict that a second wave of the coronavirus could sweep across the US before the November presidential election.
Since the start of the outbreak in December, scientists have compared Covid-19 to the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic, which was believed to have killed 50 million people.
Anthony Fauci, director of US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, disclosed in March that Covid-19 could become a seasonal crisis. He cited as proof cases now emerging in countries across the southern hemisphere as they usher in the winter season.
Though others, including US. President Donald Trump, expressed confidence that the spread of the virus would slow as the temperature rises in the countries of the northern hemisphere in the summer, Chinese scientists said they had found no proof for this.
