Governments across the world will have to lift shutdowns and re-open their economies in a well-planned manner or else the deadly coronavirus will return and the damage will be even worse, the president of an Indian-origin US physicians’ organisation said.

American Physicians of Indian-Origin (AAPI) president Dr Suresh Reddy, applauding the hundreds of thousands of Indian-origin medical personnel bravely fighting against the virus, said that “every 7th doctor in the US is an Indian and they are at the frontlines, working as soldiers and fighting the virus”.

“The entire medical fraternity has become the Army right now, fighting the coronavirus,” Reddy said in an interview here.

The fight against the virus will be a long one, Reddy said, adding that Covid-19 is not going to end in a couple of months and could last for 1-2 years until a vaccine or antiviral agent is developed.

“That is the only way we can control it,” he said.

Noting that it is understandable that people are getting anxious, tired and exhausted with the shutdowns and restrictions, Reddy said any re-opening and lifting of lockdowns has to be done in a very careful and gradual manner.

“It will be a very slow process. I don’t think it will be a sudden opening or closing of the gates. If we don’t do it carefully, in a well-planned manner, then the virus will come back and the damage will be even worse,” he said.

Reddy stressed that the battle to defeat the Covid-19 is a three-pronged attack that involved the governments implementing measures to control the outbreak, doctors and the medical fraternity providing essential treatment and the general population by the amount of discipline they show.

“The people are the ones who spread or control the disease. It is within their hands. As long as they follow the rules strictly, I think we will be able to break this disease, kill this ‘Rakshas’ virus and we will have a wonderful Diwali,” Reddy said.

He said that even at some point when the restrictions are relaxed, life will not be what people were used to before the pandemic. “I don’t think things will ever return to being totally normal. We will be washing hands more often, wearing masks more often in public places. So, it will be a new future.”