The end of the coronavirus pandemic is “in sight” according to the World Health Organisation’s special envoy on Covid-19 who acknowledged a “difficult” few months lay ahead first.
Dr David Nabarro compared the situation to a long-distance race which the world is slowly moving through but suggested most counties are well past the half-way mark.
He said: “I’m afraid we are moving through the marathon but there’s no actual way to say that we’re at the end – we can see the end in sight, but we’re not there. And there’s going to be some bumps before we get there. And I can’t tell you how bad they’re going to be, but I can at least tell you what I’m expecting.
“First of all, this virus is continuing to evolve – we have Omicron but we’ll get more variants. Secondly, it really is affecting the whole world.
And, whilst health services in Western Europe are just about coping, in many other parts of the world, they are completely overwhelmed. And thirdly, it’s really clear that there’s no scope for major restrictions in any country, particularly poor countries, The i reported.
Nabarro predicted more Covid surges following the arrival of the Omicron variant and that living with Covid means countries being able to prepare for them and to react and “really quickly” when they occur.
“Life can go on, we can get the economy going again in many countries, but we just have to be really respectful of the virus and that means having really good plans in place for dealing with the surges,” he said.
“People have just got to keep working and so there are some very tough choices for politicians right now. It’s going to be difficult for the next three months at least.”
