Omicron is the 'logical' end to the pandemic in Europe?
On January 23, World Health Organization (WHO) Director for Europe Hans Kluge predicted that the Omicron variant could infect 60% of Europeans by March. This has begun a new phase of the COVID-19 pandemic in the region and could bring the pandemic to a close.
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| Microscopic images provided by the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases show the SARS-CoV-2 virus in a sample of a COVID-19 patient in the US. Photo: AFP/TTXVN |
Hans Kluge, a reporter for the Vietnam News Agency in Brussels, said that it was right that the European region was nearing the end of the pandemic, while calling for caution because of the virus's versatility. He estimated: "Once the Omicron wave subsides, in a few weeks and months there will be general immunity, either from vaccination or from immunity because people have contracted the disease, also because the disease is seasonal." However, the WHO official said, "We are not in an endemic phase where we can predict what will happen because this virus has surprised us many times."
In the region of 53 countries, some of which are in Central Asia (as per WHO regional breakdown), the Omicron variant accounted for 15% of new COVID-19 cases as of January 18, up from half the previous week, according to WHO data. In the European Union (EU) and the European Economic Area (EEA), the variant emerged in late November 2021, is more transmissible than the Delta variant and now accounts for the majority of COVID-19 cases.
With the explosion in cases, the issue now is “minimising disruption and protecting vulnerable people”, and no longer just focusing on reducing transmission, said Mr Hans Kluge.
