Covid-19 could end in Europe after the Omicron wave, says WHO

The new Omicron variant has shifted the pandemic into a new phase and could end in Europe, claims WHO Europe Director Hans Kluge recently.

Mr. Kluge told sources that it could be possible that the region is heading towards a pandemic endgame, adding that Omicron could infect around 60% of the Europeans by March.

Once the current surge in Omicron cases sweeping across Europe decreases, the region will get some time, like months and weeks, for boosting the immunity. Especially, vaccination has also played a major role as people have immunity due to infection and lowering seasonality.

He said that they expect that there will be a period when COVID-19 may come back during the end of the year, but it’s not necessary that the pandemic will come back.

Recently, similar views were expressed by Top US scientist Anthony Fauci.

As per sources, he said that this week the cases of COVID-19 are coming down sharply in some parts of the United States, so the things seem good.

He said, cautioning against the overconfidence that if the current number of falling cases continues in northeast US, then the entire country might witness a turnaround in the coming time.

The WHO regional office for Africa also said that the cases of COVID-19 have fallen since last week, and the fatalities were decreasing for the first time since the 4th wave of the virus dominated by the Omicron variant reached all-time high.

As per research, the Omicron variant, which is much more contagious from Delta, generally leads to less severe infections among the vaccinated people. Therefore, it has raised long-waited hopes that the COVID-19 pandemic is starting to be a more manageable endemic like viral or seasonal flu.

However, Mr. Kluge notifies that it is still too early to consider the coronavirus disease an endemic.

Source Credit - https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/europe-could-be-headed-for-covid-pandemic-endgame-who-2725674