UN issues dire economic report as WHO warns coronavirus “may never go away”

Against the backdrop of the raging COVID-19 pandemic, the world economy in 2020 is projected to shrink by 3.2 per cent, racking up some $8.5 trillion in overall losses – wiping out nearly four years of output gains, according to a mid-year economic analysis by the United Nations.[0]

[0]-https://news.un.org/en/story/2020/05/1064032

I don’t mean to be naive, but wasn’t it always the case that this wouldn’t go away? I was under the impression from the beginning that eventually it would be out there and seasonal like the flu.