This truce situation will only continue to continue vaccination campaigns and the monitoring of new variants, announced Thursday the European branch of the World Health Organization.
Le Monde with AFP
Thanks to the current level of vaccination and the slightest severity of the Omicron variant, Europe is experiencing a respite comparable to a “ceasefire” in the fight against the pandemic of Covid-19, said, Thursday 3 February, the European branch of the World Health Organization (WHO).
“The pandemic is not over but we are in the unique situation to take control and we should not ruin this opportunity,” Hans Kluge said, WHO Regional Director at a conference online press. Spinning the metaphor, he added, “This higher protection period should be considered a” ceasefire “that could bring us lasting peace.” It combines vaccine protection, the end of the winter and a Omicron variant less dangerous.
Twelve million new cases last week
However, this truce can only persist only to continue vaccination campaigns and the monitoring of the new variants, “said Kluge, while several European countries considerably relax their restrictions. As for the new variants “which will inevitably appear”, “it is possible to answer it” without rewrite “the type of disturbing measures we needed before,” he said.
In the WHO Europe region, which has fifty-three countries, some of which are located in Central Asia, the contaminations exploded when the Omicron variant has taken over, but the health situation is deemed less alarming. Nearly twelve million new cases were recorded last week based on WHO regional data, the highest figure since the beginning of the pandemic two years ago.
WHO Europe called on Thursday the health authorities to focus on the protection of the most vulnerable populations.