Experts Said COVID-19 Outbreak Might Last Till End-2020 & Won’t Taper off Like SARS

I have good news and bad news.

You can now get a free Season Pass at Universal Studios Singapore with any purchase of a one-day adult ticket!

Reader: Ok, what’s the good news?

What? That was the good news. Why would a deal like that be bad news?

Reader: Well, because it means that the Covid-19 virus is so scary that even USS, the cemetery of wallets, is lowering their prices. 

Oh.

Reader: Yes. So, what’s the bad news? 

I… don’t think you can handle it.

Reader: Please. I’m one of the calmest people I know, even though I don’t actually know anyone else. I promise won’t freak out.

Uh, ok, well experts predict that the Covid-19 virus might be around till the end of the year because-

Reader: OH MY GOD WE’RE ALL GOING TO DIE!

I don’t know why I keep doing this.

Experts Said COVID-19 Outbreak Might Last Till End-2020 & Won’t Taper off Like SARS

Experts predict that the Covid-19 virus will be around until the end of the year and say it’s unlikely that it will taper off like SARS did.

Like a rabbit in a magician’s hat, SARS completely disappeared after an outbreak in 2003 that claimed almost 800 lives globally.

So what’s the difference between the two diseases? – The way it’s “secreted”.

According to Professor Leo Yee Sin, executive director of the National Centre for Infectious Diseases, patients with Covid-19 tend to secrete the virus earlier, making its control difficult.

This might explain why Covid-19 is more contagious than SARS.

While experts are predicting that the virus will be here to stay, there are three possible scenarios for the disease in the future:

1) More countries will have outbreaks, including severe cases, and it would continue to be an emergency

2) The virus might “disappear completely”, like Sars (many think this is unlikely)

3) The virus becomes endemic, and we might have to live with its continued existence, like other viruses such as the H1N1 swine flu virus

The World Health Organisation believes that the third scenario is the most likely, meaning it will become part of our daily existence.

Reader: You’re not making me feel better

Associate Professor Kenneth Mak, director of medical services at the Ministry of Health (MOH), echoed this sentiment, saying the disease won’t go away in one to two months, and that we have to be mentally prepared for it to be the “new normal”.

Reader: WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS TO ME?

Calm down, dear reader. The Covid-19 virus has a fatality rate of 3.4%, much lower than SARS’s 10% and MERS’s 34%.

Also, note that the 3.4% might be much lower since there would be many undetected cases.

Moreover, nearly 60% of the Covid-19 cases in Singapore have recovered. 10 are in ICU, but the rest are either stable or improving.

So, even if the virus were here to stay for a while, it’s not the end of the world.

It’s just going the H1N1 way. And if you still haven’t read our article about how H1N1 didn’t end, you should really do so here.