Infographic: Endemic vs pandemic diseases | Infographic News - Al Jazeera English

The WHO has said calls to treat the coronavirus as endemic are premature as cases in parts of the world remain high.

On March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a pandemic – a new disease that has spread around the world, affecting a large number of people.

Classifying COVID-19 as such could mean that fewer resources would be allocated to combat the disease and people would be subject to less testing as it would likely no longer be considered a severe public health emergency.

But the World Health Organization (WHO) has said it is too early to treat the coronavirus as endemic as cases in parts of the world remain high.

Epidemiologists, scientists who study the spread of diseases, consider a disease endemic when its levels are consistent and predictable.

For COVID-19 to become endemic, several factors would need to be considered, including how the disease continues to evolve as well as the type of immunity people acquire through infection and vaccines.