What will the end of the pandemic look like?

The end of the pandemic will happen when hell freezes over or when Steak sauce or Kiwi finally get real.  

Well, I guess I disagree with you.  I do believe that at some point we will no longer see large numbers of Covid cases.  That Covid will become a thing of the past.

I am a numbers person, but I am not sure how low the numbers will have to get before I would consider the pandemic over.  They got very low last summer, but then rebounded, so I know that the threshold will be even lower than that.  Our state tracks “cases per 100,000 over a two week period.”  The way they get the number is wonky, but the number does a pretty good job of showing how many people are possibly contagious.  The state lifted our mask mandate when that number fell below 50, but of course we rebounded and the number is now over 1000.  So I don’t know how low it will have to get, maybe below 10?  

Maybe there is some other way to measure when we are there.  How many people you know are sick?  When the supply chain finally gets straightened out?  When staffing shortages are resolved? When schools stop switching back and forth between in person and virtual days?  When people stop wearing masks and don’t get sick because of it? 

I guess that my main point is that many people will continue to believe that we are in terrible danger long after the danger has passed.  I don’t want to be that person.  On the other hand, I also don’t want to be the person who does not take precautions when they are needed.  I don’t trust the media to be reasonable about it so I am trying to figure it out for myself.

Provided DJ's scenario 4 does not happen I reckon by spring of this year certainly in the UK/Europe the focus of the populations will be on inflation and in particular energy prices 

The "cap" in the Uk holding down energy prices basically making energy companies supply at a loss unless fully hedged into the future will be reviewed in April and the resulting umpteen 10's or percent change in prices will make people's cost go crazy and result in a totally different "panic".

I think the end of the pandemic will look a lot less stressful for most. I think it has caused stress in a myriad of ways whether people are aware of it or not. Smiles seem a lot less frequent. It'll be nice for that to change back to more frequent.

A-I wrote: I think the end of the pandemic will look a lot less stressful for most. I think it has caused stress in a myriad of ways whether people are aware of it or not. Smiles seem a lot less frequent. It'll be nice for that to change back to more frequent.

I was in the supermarket just before Christmas and at the checkout, and I noticed a lovely old man at the next checkout smiling at me. I smiled back and I thought isn't it lovely to see a smile, and then I realised he was wearing his mask under his chin and that's why I could see his smile. It really did cheer me up. The week previous I was in a big box homewares store as it opened and there were 5 other people in there with me, an elderly couple with one wearing their mask on their forehead and one under the chin, and another woman my age wearing her mask hanging off one ear. It was so funny. In the tiny queue that formed for the only till open we were all laughing about it. We are obliged under law to wear a mask in a shop here but there are no specifications as to how you have to wear it. 

Of course you guys in the rest of the world will reach the end of the pandemic a long time before we do here, as we still haven't really had it. I think there are 20 cases in my district at the moment. We've still got it all to come. Omicron has arrived but it hasn't taken off. There have been 3 community cases found in Auckland and they've all been whisked away to quarantine in a hotel under guard.