| Next | Section menu | Main menu | Previous |

Learning to live with the virus

Slavea Chankova: health-care correspondent, The Economist

What to expect in year two of the pandemic

Spreading out to stop the spread

FOR MUCH OF 2020 the public rhetoric around the pandemic was combative.

Politicians and health officials talked about “hammering” the novel

coronavirus and “squashing” towering epidemic curves. But the pesky clump

of RNA that, in a few months, has killed hundreds of thousands of people,

tanked the global economy and wiped out years of progress on poverty has

kept marching on. Though vaccines will emerge, reaching every corner of the

world with them will remain an aspiration. So a more conciliatory tone is in

order. In 2021 humanity will continue to adapt to living with the virus—in

ways that make the coexistence less taxing.

The basics will remain the same. Masks and avid hand-washing will still be necessary.
People will give others a wider berth in public spaces without even thinking about it.
But as the pandemic enters its second year, be prepared for changes in three areas:
testing, quarantine rules and the guidelines for social distancing.