An official with the World Health Organization on Wednesday made a grim prediction about the pandemic that’s currently got the world in its grip: “The virus may never go away.”

The comment was made by Dr. Michael Ryan during a press briefing in which WHO officials discussed new coronavirus clusters that have recently surfaced around the world. “I think it’s important to put this on the table,” Ryan said. “This virus may become just another endemic virus in our communities.”

While a lot of people might find Ryan’s view disheartening, he went on to point out that other diseases — such as HIV and influenza — have never disappeared, but people have learned to successfully manage them.