Depending on how long COVID-19 sticks around, it could shift from a pandemic to an endemic.
An endemic is a disease that is constantly present in a certain area but doesn't cause too much disruption to everyday life.
An example would be the common cold.
A pandemic is classified as the same disease spreading across multiple countries or continents.
There's no specific timeline of when a disease might become an endemic, but infectious disease experts say the good news is if COVID is around for years it won't be the same disease with the serious effects we're currently seeing.
