The World Health Organisation has said the end of the Covid-19 pandemic is "in sight".
However, the next three months will be "difficult".
Health experts are currently looking at how governments will manage coronavirus in the future as it becomes endemic.
WHO's Dr David Nabarro told Sky News: "I'm afraid we are moving through the marathon, but there's no actual way to say that we're at the end - we can see the end in sight, but we're not there. And there's going to be some bumps before we get there."
He said the virus would continue to evolve, creating more variants as time goes on.
"First of all, this virus is continuing to evolve - we have Omicron, but we'll get more variants," said Dr Nabarro.
"Secondly, it really is affecting the whole world. And, whilst health services in Western Europe are just about coping, in many other parts of the world, they are completely overwhelmed.
"And thirdly, it's really clear that there's no scope for major restrictions in any country, particularly poor countries.
"People have just got to keep working, and so there are some very tough choices for politicians right now.
"It's going to be difficult for the next three months at least."
So far, Covid has gone through several waves as case numbers continue to surge every few months.
Dr Nabarro said he believes these surges will continue, and governments need to react to them quickly if they want to live with the virus.
He said: "The way this virus is behaving, and has behaved really since we first met it, is that it builds up and then surges quite dramatically, and then it comes down again, and then surges again about every three or four months.
"It's difficult to use past behaviour to predict the future. And I don't like doing that too much.
"But I would agree that the pattern, I think, that is going to happen with this virus is continued surges, and living with COVID means being able to prepare for these surges and to react and really quickly when they occur.
"Life can go on, we can get the economy going again in many countries, but we just have to be really respectful of the virus and that means having really good plans in place for dealing with the surges."
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