Covid-19

H Coronavirus may never go away and populations around the world will have to learn to live with it, the World Health Organisation said on Wednesday.

Mike Ryan, an Executive Director with the World Health Organisation, says the virus may just become one of the viruses around the world that kill people annually.

The virus first emerged in Wuhan, China, late last year and has since infected more than 4.2 million people worldwide. Michael Joseph Ryan is Executive Director of the World Health Organization's Health Emergencies Programme where he leads the team responsible for the international containment and treatment of COVID-19.Getty Images

He said, “We have a new virus entering the human population for the first time and therefore it is very hard to predict when we will prevail over it.

“This virus just may become another endemic virus in our communities and this virus may never go away. HIV hasn’t gone away.

“I’m not comparing the two diseases but I think it is important that we’re realistic. I don’t think anyone can predict when or if this disease will disappear

“HIV has not gone away — but we have come to terms with the virus.”