The novel coronavirus pandemic has affected over 1,986,900 people and over 200 countries in the world. At this time, social distancing has become crucial, and people are doing their best to keep to themselves and stay home.
It may be an unprecedented situation, but the social distancing norms may become normalised before this is all over. As per researchers from Harvard, "prolonged or intermittent social distancing" may be a necessity till 2022. A recent study published in the peer-reviewed journal Science opines that the virus may linger and affect people frequently in the future.
And while a one-time social distancing measure may suppress critical cases to a certain extent, a resurgence is likely once these limitations are removed.
"We projected that recurrent wintertime outbreaks of SARS-CoV-2 will probably occur after the initial, most severe pandemic wave. Absent other interventions, a key metric for the success of social distancing is whether critical care capacities are exceeded," says an excerpt from the abstract of the research paper.
With no 'cure' or vaccine available at present, there does not seem to be many other alternatives to social distancing.
Additionally, the researchers say that there is a possibility that the novel coronavirus (known as SARS-CoV-2) could enter into "long-term circulation alongside the other human betacoronaviruses".
As per their research, "SARS-CoV-2 was capable of producing a substantial outbreak regardless of establishment time". Thus, there may not be an optimal time to fight the virus off permanently.
"Winter/spring establishments favored outbreaks with lower peaks, while autumn/winter establishments led to more acute outbreaks,' they say, based on modeled scenarios.
"If immunity to SARS-CoV-2 is permanent, the virus could disappear for five or more years after causing a major outbreak," the paper adds.
Social distancing measures however will have a crucial role to play in the coming days, months or even years. It can reduce the extent to which the novel coronavirus strains the healthcare system of a country the researchers point out.
"Intermittent distancing may be required into 2022 unless critical care capacity is increased substantially or a treatment or vaccine becomes available," they reiterated.
