Nipah Virus Won't Lead to a Pandemic Like COVID-19: Here's Why

To put it simply, it seems unlikely. While Nipah is more deadly, COVID is far more infectious, spreading easily from person to person.

"While COVID has a high infection rate of spreading from person to person, Nipah doesn't typically spread in this way. You would have to come into contact with an infected animal, or eat a fruit or vegetable that may have been eaten by one of them and contains their saliva."
Dr Ramanan Laxminarayan, founder of Center for Disease Dynamics, Economics & Policy in Washington D. C., USA.
Nipah or COVID: Diagnosing the Symptoms
Since the symptoms of both COVID and Nipah can be very similar, it can be difficult to tell them apart just based on the symptoms.

RT-PCR nasal swab tests can be conducted to diagnose both the infections. However, Dr Laxminathan says, "NiV tests are not easy available and very few labs do them in India."

There is also the catch of people mistaking early symptoms for COVID or general viral fever and not considering it could be Nipah. "In the case of Nipah, catching the infection early can make all the difference," he adds.

Containing the Virus
The first two times around, the Nipah virus outbreak in Kerala was locally contained. While 18 people died in 2018, only one person died of the infection in the 2019 outbreak. Contained being the keyword.

Because there is no treatment or vaccine for the infection, the infection was not eradicated, and rather was 'contained', which is the aim this time around as well.

See: https://fit.thequint.com/amp/story/coronavirus/nipah-virus-covid-pandemic-differences-similarities