The COVID-19 virus has so far infected 4,525,103 people worldwide, killing 303,351, recent World Health Organization figures show.
Infections have been reported in more than 210 countries and territories since the first cases were identified in China in December 2019. Some 1,703,742 people have recovered from the coronavirus.
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Israel's rapid response to the pandemic has resulted in relatively low morbidity and mortality rates. According to the Israeli Health Ministry, 16,579 people have contracted COVID-19, of whom 50 are currently hospitalized in serious condition. The disease has claimed the lives of 265 Israelis, and 12,521 have recovered from it.
Coronaviruses are a large family of viruses first identified in humans in the mid-1960s. Some cause the common cold, while others, found in bats, camels, and other animals have evolved into more severe illnesses. The COVID-19 pandemic, named for the year in which it erupted, is caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, or SARS‑CoV‑2.
On Thursday, WHO officials warned that COVID-19 "may never go away."
WHO Emergencies Director Dr. Mike Ryan told reporters that there was "no use" in trying to predict when the virus, which has so far infected over 4 million people worldwide and claimed 297,000 lives, would disappear.
"It is important to put this on the table: this virus may become just another endemic virus in our communities, and this virus may never go away," Ryan told the virtual press conference from Geneva.
"HIV has not gone away – but we have come to terms with the virus."
While there are currently more than 100 potential vaccines in development, Ryan noted there are other illnesses, such as measles, that still haven't been eliminated despite there being vaccines for them.
