If there was ever a time that the coronavirus could have been contained, it has long passed.

The virus continues to spread across new countries and territories, and those that have previously declared triumph over the disease are slowly realizing that strong waves rarely come alone.

David Nabarro, special envoy to the World Health Organization, told BBC that COVID-19 is capable of “Surging back really quickly” and has a tendency to return “all the time.”

It might be high time to prepare for an entire lifetime dodging an invisible enemy until experts finally develop a vaccine strong enough to shield us all.

Even then, a vaccine might be able to weaken, but never completely eradicate the coronavirus.

Death Toll

For most experts, the only thing we can hope for right now is for a vaccine to diminish the fatalities.

The Washington Post just reported that in the U.S., COVID-related deaths breached the one-thousand-mark for the ninth day in a row on Tuesday. Total deaths in the country now stand past 153,000 out of more than 4.7 million confirmed infections.

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The situation is just as dire in India, which recorded over 50,000 new cases on Monday, the highest single-day tally in the world so far. Overall, the country has the fifth highest death count amid the government loosening public restrictions.

Resurgence

As can be observed in Europe, the coronavirus comes in waves, so a dip in infections, no matter how seemingly significant, is hardly any reason to put our guards down.

The Atlantic points out that vaccines are available for more than a dozen different viruses, but humans have not been able to eradicate any of them, save for the sole exception of smallpox, which took 15 years of worldwide coordination to completely quell.

Immunity might only last for a duration of several months, which means the world could see pandemics like the one currently raging on, followed by small waves of infection -- every year.

The coronavirus has affected 18 million people across six continents, and close to 700,000 people have succumbed to it. With the way things are going, it appears like the virus is out to get some more.