Towards “a period of calm before a possible return of Covid-19 at the end of the year”, estimates the WHO

A out of the pandemic of Covid-19 could be looming in Europe, two years after the appearance of this disease on the old continent where Omicron could have contaminated 60% of the population by March, estimated Sunday the World Health Organization (WHO). ” It is plausible that the region is approaching an end to the pandemic “, spoke the director of WHO Europe Hans Kluge to AFP, calling however for caution because of the versatility of the virus. ” Once the wave Omicron will be calmed down, there will be for a few weeks and a few months a immunity overall, either through vaccine, either because people will be immune due to infection, and also a drop due to seasonality “, he estimated.

The WHO then counts on ” a period of calm before perhaps the return of Covid-19 towards the end of the year, but not necessarily the return of the pandemic“. In South Africa, where this variant was first sequenced, there has been a downward trend in the number of new cases over the past four weeks. With equal cautious optimism, the White House adviser on the health crisis, Anthony Fauci, ruled on Sunday that a “ turnaround of the situation could be expected in the United States.

Better prepared to face

There is no question, however, of speaking immediately of “an era endemic “, which would treat the virus in the same way as a seasonal flu, warned the UN official. ” Endemic means (…) that we can predict what will happen, this virus has surprised more than once. So we have to be very careful especially since Omicron has so far been dominant in countries with a high vaccination coverage, Mr. Kluge insisted.

Besides the persistence of Delta, other variants may also emerge. ” We will resist much better, including the new variants “, assured Sunday on the French television channel LCI Thierry Breton, the European commissioner for the internal market. ” We will be ready to adapt vaccines, especially those to messenger RNA, if necessary [et à] coping with a virulent variant “, he said.

In the WHO Europe region, which has 53 countries, some of which are located in Central Asia, Omicron accounted for 15% of new Covid cases on January 18, much more than the previous week, according to WHO data. According to projections presented by the World Health Organization, 60% of Europeans may have been contaminated with Omicron by 1^er March.

In the 27 member countries of the EU, as well as in Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway, this variant appeared at the end of November, more contagious that the Delta but less virulent, in particular in the vaccinated, is now dominant according to the European health agency. About the Russia, it announced on Sunday a new daily record of contaminations by the coronavirus for the third consecutive day, a spread due to Omicron.

Public policies must adapt

With the explosion in the number of contaminations, it is now a question of modifying public policies to “ minimize disruption and (…) protect vulnerable people » and no longer to focus only on the reduction of transmission, judged Hans Kluge. In this context, he called for everyone’s responsibility. ” Everyone should be their own risk manager, he summarized. If you don’t feel well, stay home, take a self-test. If you test positive, self-isolate “.

The aim is to stabilize the health situation across Europe, where the gaps in vaccination against Covid-19 are colossal, ranging from 25 to 95% of the population depending on the country in the region, which can lead to varying degrees of overcrowding in hospitals. ” Stabilize means that the health system is no longer overwhelmed by Covid-19 and can continue to provide essential health services, which have unfortunately been severely disrupted, in the areas of Cancer, cardiovascular diseases and vaccination insisted Mr. Kluge.

For the director for Europe of the WHO, Now is not the time to play Russian roulette. People are still strongly encouraged to get vaccinated, take a booster dose and follow preventive measures “. The city of Beijing has in this regard announced that it will screen all the inhabitants of a district on Sunday after the discovery of an epidemic focus, less than two weeks before the start of the Olympic Games inwinter in the Chinese capital.

But, illustrating the difficulty of having the measures taken to combat the pandemic accepted everywhere, on the same day, in Brussels, clashes occurred between the police and opponents restrictive devices, during a demonstration which brought together tens of thousands of people. Asked also about the need for a fourth dose to reach the end of the pandemic tunnel, Mr. Kluge was cautious, noting however that “ immunity increases after each inoculation of the vaccine “.