SARS-CoV2 virus still circulating, but very weak: Experts

It all appears to be a bad memory now, but for three years, the SARS-CoV2 virus paralysed the entire world and resulted in the death of at least seven million people. More than 5.25 lakh of these deaths were recorded in India. In May 2023, the WHO declared that Covid-19 was no longer a global health emergency.

But the virus has not disappeared. It is still very much in circulation, in India as well.

“This is how viruses evolve. It is not surprising that SARS-CoV2 has become very weak now. It would probably still not be considered as benign as the flu virus, which has been around for very long, but it is more or less in the same category,” said Shahid Jameel, a virologist and Fellow at Green Templeton College, University of Oxford in UK.

“Maybe, it still has the ability to cause complications in people with respiratory diseases, but for the general public, the virus is no longer a cause for concern. I don’t think there is any danger of this virus coming back in a stronger form,” he said.

The WHO, in its latest bulletin, has reported 1,47,000 new cases and 4,500 deaths across the world during the 28-day period between January 6 and February 2 this year. The cases were reported from 83 countries, while deaths happened in 23 countries.

Rajesh Karyakarte, a member of Maharashtra Covid task force, said SARS-CoV-2 had transitioned into a more endemic state, similar to influenza, and was circulating regularly at lower and more predictable levels compared to the initial pandemic phase.

“While routine testing for SARS-CoV-2 has significantly declined, ongoing surveillance projects continue to monitor its presence,” he said. In one such ongoing exercise, health authorities are screening patients with Severe Acute Respiratory Infection (SARI), and some of them have tested positive for SARS-COV2.