While the Omicron wave of contaminations is in full swing in Belgium, hospitals are relatively spared for the moment. Good news that may show a glimmer of hope.
Before Belgium, the United Kingdom had also been hit hard by this last variant. This Tuesday, 379 people had unfortunately died from the coronavirus on the British island. One of the highest numbers since February of last year. On the other hand, infections are clearly decreasing with 128,821 cases detected. In fact, a week earlier, there were 218,000 people infected in one day. Hospital admissions have also fallen across much of England.
David Heymann is professor at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. He is considered a size in his field. According to him, the evolution of the pandemic is positive and is slowly becoming endemic among the British. In other words, the epidemic “has a stable circulation in the population, with predictable intensity and waves of infection”, he explains.
For the senior official of the World Health Organization (WHO), this is very good news. “About 95% of the English population has acquired immunity, either by vaccination or by acquired infection”, argumente-t-il. “Thanks to these antibodies, the virus is now behaving endemically and no longer like a pandemic.”
The United Kingdom, the first country to emerge from the crisis?
In the northern hemisphere, countries are at different stages of the pandemic. “The UK is probably the closest country to get out of it. If it hasn’t already.”, assure David Heymann. “The high level of immunity of the population appears to overpower the virus and its variants from a distance. It also does not cause serious illness or death.”, he added.
However, the professor also claims that the pandemic will only be history on a global scale once all countries have gone through a similar process in order to “tame the virus”.