As virus evolves, why eliminating Covid-19 seems an impossible dream

 Many countries now have high levels of the virus circulating and aren't aiming to eradicate it. And it's unlikely countries with few infections can continue to keep Covid-19 at bay

Around the world, countries are having to strike a balance between COVID-19 cases and restrictions. In the UK and the US, daily new cases number in the thousands, but restrictions and limitations are being lifted. In contrast, New Zealand has started a short national lockdown to contain just a handful of cases.

For the past 20 months, New Zealand, Australia, and several other East Asian countries have pursued tough policies aiming to completely eradicate COVID-19. The hallmarks of these “zero COVID” approaches are strict border controls and quarantine arrangements as well as the early introduction of lockdowns when discovering cases.

So far they’ve helped minimize infections and deaths. The economic impacts experienced by countries adopting these approaches have also been less severe than those that have not. New Zealand has said it intends to continue its COVID-19 eradication strategy indefinitely.

Is this sustainable? In an ideal world, completely eliminating COVID-19 is what all countries would aim to do, and earlier on in the pandemic, I supported this strategy. But now the pandemic has evolved, the approach makes less sense.