Key members of a health ministry advisory body indicated Wednesday that COVID-19 has different characteristics to seasonal influenza, a view that could shape the government's decision on whether to review the classification of the novel coronavirus and how the virus is handled.
A risk assessment report completed by the panel stated that, although the overall severity of COVID-19 cases has declined since the omicron variant become dominant, the virus has become more transmissible and is becoming an infectious disease with different characteristics from the flu.
