The COVID has not disappeared. But now we know how to live with it.

test. mask. Keep a distance. vaccination. booster. tablet. Therapeutic science.

The pandemic toolbox has been tested with a hard-to-find “tickling brain” and has far more tools than two years ago when the masks were homemade and many were afraid to leave the house. .. In fact, the SARS-CoV-2 toolbox is beginning to look very similar to the typical approach to fighting other viruses. And that may mean that the time to establish “new normal” is imminent.

“At the beginning of the pandemic, we had no other choice,” he said. Jared AuclairHe is an associate professor of chemistry and chemical biology at Northeastern University, leads a biopharmaceutical analysis training lab, and runs the Life Sciences Testing Center, a university COVID-19 testing facility in Burlington, Massachusetts. “There was no vaccine or cure. The best we could do was to test, isolate, quarantine and stop the spread.”

From left to right: Neil Maniar, Master of Public Health Programs, Vice-Chair of Health Sciences, and Professor of Public Health Practices at Bouvet Health Science University. Jared Auclair, Associate Professor of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Director of the Biopharmaceutical Analysis Training Lab, and Vice Dean of the Department of Science and Graduate School of Northeastern University. Photos by Matthew Modoono / Northeastern University and Adam Glanzman / Northeastern University

Currently, vaccines significantly reduce the risk of severe cases of COVID-19. Treatment It can be used to reduce the risk of infection becoming fatal, and the virus itself seems to be mutated in the way it is made. Not so serious (Although it is more infectious), he says. “That is, 2022 is about making the transition to a new, unique world, the” new normal “that people are talking about. “

Even at the height of the Omicron wave, most positive cases were asymptomatic or mild, significantly different from the previous surge in coronavirus cases, according to Oakrea. Public health professionals can use that data, Do not emphasize the number of cases As an indicator for monitoring the COVID-19 crisis, especially in vaccinated communities.

“I saw a lot of people test positive. [asymptomatic, surveillance testing] It wasn’t happening, it wouldn’t have been wise, “Oclea said of the northeastern test data during the Omicron wave. This is an important difference, a notable change from the beginning of the pandemic. If it was a wave of cases of viruses that were already considered endemic, such as the flu, doctors would have only examined people with symptoms.

The term “endemic” does not mean that COVID-19 is gone. But we can manage it and live with it.In fact, say Neil Mania, Director of the Master of Public Health Programs, Vice-Chair of the Department of Health Sciences, and Professor of Public Health Practices in the Northeast, said, “Partly because of the levels of natural and vaccine-induced immunity, the rate of illness stabilizes. It means “regional”, and the outbreak of this disease is becoming more and more localized, not global, and more manageable for the broader medical system. “The term” endemic “basically refers to the baseline level of a particular disease within a population,” he says.

At that point, he said: “It’s no longer a one-size-fits-all approach, and we actually adjust public health measures to meet the needs of much more local areas. We adjust these measures based on data that exists at the local level. To do.”

Americans are seeing it work now as state officials begin Release the obligation of indoor masks, Says the maniac. “Releasing mask obligations does not necessarily mean that school children do not have to wear masks. This is what the local school district now says,” Well, what the data tells us. It means having the ability to say, “Are you teaching?”, “He says. “If there is still a community with a high COVID-19 infection rate, it makes sense for the child to wear a mask, but in other communities with no or very few cases, the child does not. It doesn’t matter. You need to wear a mask in those areas. “

All of these approaches were important in combination when the only tools that had to fight COVID-19 were masks, tests and distances.Individually, they had defects: homemade masks Inconsistent quality It only provided so much protection. In many cases, it was difficult to test and the results were too late to be useful. And physical distance wasn’t possible in all situations.

Therefore, public health experts say, “Swiss cheese model”Because if the strategies are layered on top of each other, the holes in the individual strategies are covered.

Tools such as vaccines and remedies for treating COVID-19 infections have been added to the mix, increasing the layer of cheese to close the holes.High quality mask (etc. N95 and KN95) And home tests are also easier to open to the public than a few months ago. By choosing from more strategies, people can decide what to do to suit a comfortable level of risk in different situations.

It was once thought that wearing a mask only protects others from your bacteria, but scientists have discovered it ever since. One-way Musking Work to protect the wearer, even when interacting with someone Unmasked person.. This is especially true if the person wearing the mask is wearing a high quality medical grade respiratory system such as: N95 or KN95..

“We know how to act,” says Auclair. And that knowledge gained has a broader impact on public health. For example, the flu season during the COVID-19 pandemic was less severe than the previous year, probably due to coronavirus precautions. “I think we can really minimize the spread of anything now.”

In almost two years of COVID-19’s worldwide spread, scientists and the general public have similarly learned a lot about what to monitor with data and how to monitor it. Use a maskHow to maintain Safe distance And ventilation, when you are at home, when you take the test, and what information Different types of tests Give you and a way to navigate Tricky conversation With other people Man About risk.

The goal of the “new normal” after the pandemic is to have a relationship with SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, similar to that with influenza, Auclair says. He hopes that coronavirus cases will increase seasonally in the colder months in line with influenza cases, and that medical professionals will administer annual shots to boost immunity to both viruses. I am.

“For me, the endemic condition actually coexists with COVID, just as it coexists with everything else. It’s a way of coexisting with influenza and other coronaviruses,” he says.

Although there are significant clinical differences between influenza and SARS-CoV-2, Aulcair says that the methods we relate to both diseases have important similarities. Influenza caused a catastrophic pandemic 100 years ago, but every year during the flu season it causes serious illness and even the death of some patients. But we have vaccines to reduce the risk of severe cases and cures to treat them, and the world isn’t closed every year, he says. “I think I’ll be there this year [with COVID-19], But it’s a process that people have to adapt to. “

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