We cannot eradicate coronavirus, expert warns
The coronavirus cannot be eradicated, the House of Lords has heard.
Prof David Robertson, head of viral genomics and bioinformatics at the University of Glasgow, told the House's Science and Technology Committee that Covid-19 was a highly successful virus.
He said: "It is so transmissible, it's so successful, we're so susceptible, that actually it's a little bit of a red herring to worry about it getting worse, because it couldn't be much worse at the moment in terms of the numbers of cases."
He contrasted coronavirus with Ebola, which killed many more of the people it infected but was therefore easier to control as people stopped spreading it.
"This virus is infecting so many people with asymptomatic to mild symptoms that it's almost uncontrollable.
"I think we have to be clear that we're not going to be able to eradicate this virus. It's going to settle into the human population and in several years it will become a normal virus."
There was also a warning that people who have had coronavirus may not develop significant immunity.
John Edmunds, professor of infectious disease modelling at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, said evidence from survivors of Sars (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, a different form of coronavirus) suggested immunity-giving antibodies reduced over time.
"So that's potentially bad news for us, that immunity may not last that long against this virus," he said.