“How did ‘endemic’ — the term used in infectious disease to describe our relentless struggle in the relationship with our greatest scourges of HIV, tuberculosis and malaria — come to be re-appropriated to mean some form of victory over COVID-19? If we now meet the COVID challenge poorly and throw in the towel, historians may puzzle over our ineptitude for centuries to come.”
"Endemic" was simply rebranded from a failure to stop something at the door and therefore being forced to let it live amongst you, to a victory where you allow it to live with you peacefully. It was pure marketing.
It's a failure of both our population's education that the public at large didn't know better and actual public heath that didn't push back against it. Honestly, when someone cheers "endemic" I just use it as a simple mechanism to know that they're not to be listened to about the subject.
It always kind of had the connotation of a failed public health response. Like, "You want to go visit where? So and so disease is endemic there." Now it's celebrated.
@BE
Funny how nowhere in our history have we ever been satisfied with the endemicity of something that kills and sickens this many people, but suddenly its "oh well, I guess we just live like this now"