Covid will ‘probably’ become a seasonal virus, like the flu, Walensky says

Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention testifies during a Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee hearing on the federal coronavirus response on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, March 18, 2021. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, Pool)

by: NBC News

Posted: Mar 7, 2022 / 07:50 PM EST

Updated: Mar 7, 2022 / 07:50 PM EST

TAMPA (NBC) – Even as cases of Covid-19 continue to fall nationwide, the head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says that the coronavirus is most likely here to stay — and that it could behave similarly to influenza.

“I do anticipate that this is probably going to be a seasonal virus,” CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky told NBC News. That means it could join the flu and other respiratory viruses that tend to spread during the cold winter months.

The U.S. is averaging 49,569 new Covid cases per day, according to an NBC News tally, a decrease of more than 54 percent over the past two weeks. Covid-related deaths are also falling, now averaging 1,533 per day, a reduction of about a third over the past two weeks.

Despite the positive Covid trends, CDC officials say it is increasingly like that the virus will never truly go away, instead simmering at low levels and rising during the winter months.

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