Living with COVID-19

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"Living with COVID-19" is a term used to describe management strategies for the COVID-19 pandemic that designate Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) as an endemic illness that has lessened in severity but cannot be fully contained, and prioritise a return to normal lifestyles.

These strategies consider SARS-CoV-2 to be a respiratory virus that can be controlled with vaccines and prescription treatments, without the continued use of extraordinary public health measures such as lockdowns, restrictions on gatherings, mandatory self-isolation, PCR testing programmes, and mandatory masking. Emphasis is usually placed on personal responsibility, as opposed to government-mandated mitigations.

It is contrary to COVID-Zero, a strategy that aims to suppress and/or eliminate any community transmission of the virus. Some countries that attempted to pursue COVID-Zero (such as Australia and New Zealand) pivoted to this strategy when SARS-CoV-2 variants made it intractable to continue.

Background[edit]

The widening availability of COVID-19 vaccines, and the development of drugs for treating COVID-19 infections, led to discussions over whether they would allow populations to reach herd immunity, or otherwise be able to accept the idea of "living with COVID-19"—where COVID-19 is treated as an endemic illness that can not be fully eliminated, and a focus is placed on returning to "normal" life where the disease is still present, but is no longer considered to be as severe of a threat to public health than it was prior to the availability of vaccines.[1][2][3][4]

Studies have suggested that early COVID-19 vaccines had a lower efficacy against SARS-CoV-2 variants such as Delta and Omicron (causing more breakthrough infections, especially in the case of Omicron),[5][6][7][8][9] but that booster doses of the most common two-dose vaccines were shown to have an increased response to Omicron.[10][11][12] Omicron was also perceived as being less fatal[13] and more "mild" in comparison to previous variants,[14][15] but more contagious, which can lead to an exponential growth of cases.[16][17][18]

Since Omicron, there have been trends in some areas where the proportion of patients being admitted to intensive care units (ICUs) have decreased. There has been a greater focus on distinguishing "incidental" hospitalisations—where a patient tested positive for COVID-19 at the hospital (which could be mild or asymptomatic), but was originally admitted for an unrelated reason or condition—from patients being specifically hospitalised for COVID-19 complications.[citation needed] However, there is still a chance that the patient's condition may have been influenced by COVID-19 complications.[19][20] It has been argued that the general public may have become fatigued by the ongoing cycles of government-imposed restrictions, which can also have an economic impact on various industries.[21][22][23]

Characteristics[edit]

The aim of the strategy is for a population to be able to return to either a pre-pandemic lifestyle,[24] or a "new normal" where personal risk assessment and voluntary practice of infection control techniques (such as masks) may remain normalised or recommended on a case-by-case basis, but are no longer employed on a wider scale.[25][26][27] Characteristics of the strategy include:[28][29][30]

  • Treating COVID-19 as an "endemic" illness that can be managed via vaccination and future prescription treatments (similar to other illnesses such as influenza)
  • Deemphasis on extraordinary public health measures as the primary means of controlling spread, such as large-scale lockdowns or capacity restrictions, and reducing or eliminating mandatory self-isolation.[31]
  • Deemphasis on laboratory PCR testing outside of those at the highest risk, in favour of using rapid tests for self-screening.[32][33]
  • Focusing more on severe outcomes such as hospitalisations, ICU admissions, and deaths as metrics rather than positive cases.[34][35]

By countries[edit]

Australia[edit]

Australia initially pursued a zero-COVID strategy of suppressing any community transmission of COVID-19, which led to strict border controls both internationally and between states and territories, extensive contact tracing, and localised "snap lockdowns" and restrictions in response to even small numbers of new positive cases (with the city of Melbourne having faced some of the longest lockdown periods worldwide).[36][37][38][39] This strategy initially proved successful in most of the country, until the emergence of variants of SARS-CoV-2 in mid-2021, and especially Omicron, which made it increasingly difficult to contain outbreaks.[36][37]

By July 2021, most of the country had begun to shift their focus towards a strategy focusing on vaccination, with the National Cabinet agreeing on a four-phase framework based on vaccination targets. As vaccination rates increase, travel restrictions would be eased, and larger lockdowns would become "less likely"; by the final phase, COVID-19 would be treated as endemic.[40][41][42] An exception is Western Australia, which continued to enforce strict entry restrictions and infection control measures.[36][43] The state also enforced a ban on rapid antigen testing due to accuracy concerns in an environment with little community spread (with fines of up to A$20,000 for individuals and A$100,000 for companies),[44][45] which was only lifted on 9 January 2022 in anticipation of the reopening of borders.[46]

At a media conference on 22 December 2021, Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said that "we are living with this virus. This is the next stage of the pandemic." She noted that only one person was hospitalized with COVID-19 in Queensland at this time, and encouraged continued masking and booster shots for those eligible.[47] Queensland's Chief Health Officer John Gerrard said that spreading COVID-19 is "necessary" in order to transition from the "pandemic stage to an endemic stage", noting that people can develop immunity by being vaccinated or getting infected.[48]

In January 2022, Prime Minister Scott Morrison stated that Omicron's severity was "far less than perhaps was anticipated" despite its quick spread, and argued that "you've got two choices here: you can push through or you can lock down. We are for pushing through."[36] The Omicron wave had led to supply chain issues, labour shortages,[36][43] as well as supply issues surrounding rapid test kits.[44][45]

On 5 January 2022, Western Australia indefinitely delayed a planned lifting of its hard interstate border scheduled for 5 February.[49] Premier Mark McGowan stated that it would be "reckless and irresponsible" to open its borders without sufficient distribution of booster doses to protect against Omicron variant, explaining that "if you have a look at the alternative, which is what is going on in the eastern states at the moment, they basically have hundreds of people dying, they have mass dislocation in the economy, in logistics, freight, and all elements of the economy."[50]

On 18 February 2022, McGowan announced that Western Australia would lift some entry restrictions on 3 March 2022, with interstate travellers required to be fully-vaccinated with three doses, and international travellers subject to the federal entry criteria. Other restrictions, including mask mandates, social distancing, and vaccine passports remain in effect. McGowan admitted that "the virus is already here and we cannot stop its spread". These changes came amid modelling projecting at least 10,000 cases per-day by the end of March.[51][52]

On 25 March 2022, the Minister for Health Greg Hunt announced that the Biosecurity Emergency Determination, as well as pre-flight COVID-19 tests for international arrivals will end on 17 April.[53][54]

Denmark[edit]

On 2 February 2022, Denmark announced that it would lift most restrictions implemented since the Omicron wave (including those on gatherings, masks, and vaccine passport).[55] Despite having the highest case numbers within the European Union (and increasing presence of the BA.2 sublineage), health minister Magnus Heunicke argued that COVID-19 was no longer a "socially critical" disease, citing the country's high vaccination rate, that there were fewer patients being admitted to intensive care, and an increasing number of hospitalizations were incidental.[56][55] It was noted that the Danish population had a high degree of trust in their government for imposing and lifting health measures in their best interest, and that a survey by government advisor and Aarhus University professor Michael Bang Petersen showed that they were more concerned about the state of their hospital system, and that their "feeling of societal threat" was at its lowest since the start of the pandemic.[19]

Iceland[edit]

On 23 February 2022, the Ministry of Health lifted all remaining COVID-19 restrictions, including gathering limits, restricted opening hours for bars, and border restrictions. Adopting a herd immunity approach,[57] the ministry stated that "widespread societal resistance to COVID-19 is the main route out of the epidemic," and "to achieve this, as many people as possible need to be infected with the virus as the vaccines are not enough, even though they provide good protection against serious illness".[58]

North Korea[edit]

On 10 January 2022, Rodong Sinmun reported that North Korea would like to switch its COVID-19 measurement from a "strict" to an "advanced and people-friendly" approach.[59] Cargo train services between Sinuiju and Dandong was restarted from 16 January.[60] Several South Korean media analysed that North Korea would like to launch a "living with COVID-19" strategy.[59][60][verification needed]

Malaysia[edit]

In September 2021, Malaysian Minister of Health Khairy Jamaluddin announced that the government would transition to treating COVID-19 as if it was in an "endemic phase" by the end of October 2021, after vaccinating 80% of the population.[61][62] Movement controls in the country were lifted in October.[63] In March 2022, Khairy said that Malaysians could start "to live with COVID-19", while maintaining some public health measures.[64]

Mexico[edit]

On April 26 2022, President Obrador said that COVID-19 was "retreating almost completely" and that COVID-19 has moved on from a pandemic to an endemic stage.[65]

Singapore[edit]

In June 2021, Gan Kim Yong, Ong Ye Kung and Lawrence Wong—chairs of Singapore's COVID-19 task force—stated that "COVID-19 may never go away", but that due to high vaccination rates, a roadmap was being developed for how the city state could eventually live "normally with [COVID-19] in our midst", and manage it as an endemic disease, which would include:[34][35]

  • Using rapid COVID-19 tests for screening, as opposed to slower PCR tests, contact tracing, and quarantine.
  • Deemphasis on COVID-19 case numbers in favour of "outcomes"
  • Emphasis on COVID-19 patients being able to recover at home.[66]
  • Easing restrictions on gatherings and avoiding lockdowns
  • Easing travel restrictions for those who are fully-vaccinated

They stated that "Science and human ingenuity will eventually prevail over COVID-19. Cohesion and social consciousness will get us there faster. We must all do our part."[34][35] Shortly after the plans were revealed, however, outbreaks tied to Delta variant began to emerge, leading the Singapore government to reintroduce restrictions on gatherings. In October 2021, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong admitted that it would take at least six months to reach a "new normal", but that Singapore's high vaccination rates and low mortality meant that COVID-19 "has become a treatable, mild disease for most of us", the impact of COVID-19 variants had made a COVID-Zero strategy less feasible, and that maintaining restrictions would impact the economy and mental health of the country.[67][68]

South Korea[edit]

On 22 October 2021, Heo Seok, the Mayor of Suncheon, announced that the city will move to a "living with COVID-19" strategy starting from 25 October.[69][70][verification needed] This made Suncheon as the first South Korean city to launch the strategy.[71][72][verification needed]

On the same day when Suncheon launched the strategy, the Ministry of Health and Welfare held a public hearing at Central District, Seoul, and the ministry suggested a so-called "Step-by-step Recovery" strategy starting from 1 November.[73][74] Based on the plan, the South Korean government was planning to halt all restrictions by 24 January 2022.[74]

However, on 3 December, after about a month of "Step-by-step Recovery", the government temporarily suspended the strategy by re-imposing stricter measurements from 6 December amid the spike on new cases and the appearance of Omicron variant.[75]

United Kingdom[edit]

The initial lifting of most restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic in England (besides those requiring self-isolation after a positive test) on 19 July 2021 was popularly referred to as "Freedom Day" by residents and the press.[76] However, due to Omicron variant, restrictions were partially reimposed in England from 10 December 2021, including mask mandates and a proof of vaccination requirement for large gatherings and events.[77] These restrictions ended on 27 January 2022; when announcing the change in policy on 19 January, Prime Minister Boris Johnson admitted that "we must learn to live with COVID in the same way we live with flu".[78] The British government titled its February 2022 plan to lift remaining restrictions "Living with Covid".[79][80]

United States[edit]

The concept of living with COVID was invoked by then-President Donald Trump in a 22 October 2020 debate against his Democratic opponent, former Vice President and eventual winner in the 2020 presidential election, Joe Biden. Trump, who had repeatedly downplayed the severity of COVID-19 in his administration's public communications, argued that the United States was "rounding the turn" in the pandemic, and was "learning to live" with COVID-19 because "we can't lock ourselves up in a basement like Joe does. He has the ability to lock himself up, we can't close up our nation, or you're not going to have a nation." In response, Biden argued that the United States was "learning to die with [COVID]", telling the audience that "You folks home will have an empty chair at the kitchen table this morning. That man or wife going to bed tonight and reaching over to try to touch … out of habit, where their wife or husband was, is gone. Learning to live with it? Come on. We're dying with it."[81][82]

Citing a desire to preserve freedoms, U.S. states such as Florida and Texas—led by members of the conservative Republican Party—have attempted to enforce orders prohibiting cities, counties, and in some cases, private businesses, from imposing COVID-19 mitigations such as mask mandates, vaccine mandates, and vaccine passports.[83][84] Both states have also pursued legal action to block mask mandates implemented by school boards in violation of these orders.[85][86] South Dakota never implemented any public health measures over the course of the pandemic, with public awareness, testing, and vaccination campaigns largely coordinated by the three health care systems that operate in the state (Avera, Monument, and Sanford), rather than the government.[87][88][89]

On February 17 2022, Governor Gavin Newsom announced a formal shift toward endemic management of COVID-19 in California, saying "we are moving past the crisis phase into a phase where we will work to live with this virus".[90]

During his State of the Union Address on 1 March 2022, Biden stated that "because of the progress we’ve made, because of your resilience and the tools we have, tonight I can say we are moving forward safely, back to more normal routines." However, he also stated that the federal government would "never just accept living with COVID-19", explaining that it would "continue to combat the virus as we do other diseases." The White House released a new action plan the next day, which included plans to make COVID-19 antiviral medication available for free to high-risk patients at testing locations such as pharmacies and clinics, funding in support of vigilance and preparedness in the event of new surges and variants, preventing the closure of schools and businesses, and ensuring global vaccine distribution.[91][92]

On April 26 2022, Dr. Fauci said that the United States is "out of the pandemic phase"[93] and the following day, stated that "we're really in a transitional phase...into hopefully a more controlled phase and endemicity", but further clarified that "the world is still in a pandemic...we are still experiencing a pandemic" and the United States could still see new waves of infection. Fauci's comments follow a report from the CDC indicating that the United States has a much higher level of collective immunity at this time, due to the Omicron variant.[94]

On May 16 2022, Joseph Wendelken, a spokesman for the Rhode Island Department of Health observed that COVID-19 is now "an endemic disease" and said "we should expect moderate increases and decreases in our COVID-19 levels over the coming months."[95]

United States Virgin Islands[edit]

On May 31 2022, Governor Albert Bryan announced that the travel screening portal would be shut down, saying that the "tool effectively served its purpose in protecting Virgin Islands residents", pointing out that the federal government still requires a negative test within 24 hours from a foreign port. He stated that "we are transitioning from COVID-19 pandemic to endemic" and "we now have the tools and information necessary to protect ourselves from a serious illness."[96]

Reception[edit]

A 2021 article in The Lancet called restrictions being lifted in the United Kingdom "dangerous and immature" and expressed concern that mass infection could lead to vaccine resistance and would impact young people, children and health services.[97] In The BMJ in February 2022, several health policy and public health experts criticised the British government's "living with COVID" plan, suggesting the end of free COVID-19 testing could exacerbate health inequality, and suggesting the plan did not account for required resources for localised contact tracing and hospital capacity.[98]

See also[edit]

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