Two years have passed since the World Health Organization declared the coronavirus outbreak a pandemic.

Data from Johns Hopkins University of the United States show that more than 450 million people have been infected. The death toll exceeds 6 million.

Serious cases and deaths are slowing, and Western nations are starting to reopen economic and social activities.

Professor David Michaels from the George Washington University is an expert on the coronavirus. He says we are now in the phase of normalizing our daily lives, even though the virus is not likely to go away any time soon.

He also says the world must always be ready to fight mutations, adding that he hopes they are not as virulent.

Michaels calls for a solid system for detecting new variants early, promoting vaccinations, and developing new therapeutics. That way, he says COVID can be kept less "onerous".