THE LONG HAUL

Pandemic Could Last Two Years, Researchers Say

Information campaigns should be preparing the global population for a long battle with coronavirus, report says.

Now for the bad news: The coronavirus pandemic is likely to last as long as two years and won’t be controlled until about two-thirds of the world’s population is immune, according to a report from the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota. The researchers say the virus is likely to be particularly hard to control because, unlike flu, it is able to spread from people who are asymptomatic. “Risk communication messaging from government officials should incorporate the concept that this pandemic will not be over soon,” they said, “and that people need to be prepared for possible periodic resurgences of disease over the next two years.”