As Europe begins to 'live with the coronavirus,' could the U.S follow?
The
UK is charging ahead with its plan to learn to live with the coronavirus,
dropping nearly all its remaining restrictions.
Starting
Thursday, people in England will no longer have to show their Covid passes to
get into nightclubs and other large venues. Masks cease to be required in any
public places, although they remain recommended on public transport. Wales,
Scotland and Northern Ireland are also easing their restrictions.
The
UK government insists the decision to lift the restrictions has been informed
by science.
The
numbers look positive: The large wave of new cases caused by the more
transmissible Omicron variant over the holiday period appears to have slowed.
Official
data shows the number of daily infections has dropped from the peak of more
than 245,000 on January 4 to just over 60,000 on Monday.
What's
more important than case numbers though is the fact that the Omicron variant,
which is currently ripping through the world, appears to be causing far fewer people to get very sick.
A study by the US Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention published on Tuesday confirmed that Covid-19 caused by the Omicron
variant is less severe, resulting in shorter hospital stays and fewer ICU cases
and deaths.
A
Scottish study said Omicron is associated with a two-thirds reduction in the
risk of hospitalization compared to the Delta variant, according to a Scottish study. A separate paper from South Africa found
hospitalization rates were 80% lower.
The
UK is not the only country pushing ahead with a return to normality.
The
Netherlands reopened nearly all of its services, hospitality and leisure
businesses on Wednesday, following a prolonged lockdown.
In
an announcement on its website, the Dutch government said that while the number
of cases is still high, and might increase further once people start mixing
more, it "believes it is responsible to take this big step."
"Despite
the risks and uncertainties, the government believes it is responsible to take
this big step. Because prolonging the measures that so restrict our daily lives
is also harmful to people's health and to society as a whole," it said.
Denmark,
which has in the past made U-turns on restrictions, declaring the pandemic over
only to reinstate some rules, is also easing its measures. It has cut the
mandatory self-isolation time for people who test positive for the virus to
just four days. The government said that while case numbers are rising, the
burden of the disease is now lower than at the beginning of the pandemic,
because far fewer people are ending up in hospitals.
And
the French government announced last week that it will start relaxing its
Covid-19 rules starting next week, despite reporting some of the highest case
numbers of the entire pandemic.
So,
could the European approach work in the United States?
The
US is currently experiencing a surge of Covid-19, with experts hoping the wave
might soon level off. But while hospitalizations are down in the Northeast and the
Midwest, they are still rising in the West and the South.
Vaccination
rates are likely to be the decisive factor in how safe it is to live with the
coronavirus.
While
the Omicron variant causes a milder disease, countries where vaccination
coverage is low could still face overwhelmed hospitals due to the large numbers
of cases.
And
here's where the difference lies. Denmark has fully vaccinated 81% of people,
France 76%, the Netherlands 72% and the UK 71%, according to Our World in Data.
In the US though, only about 63% of people are fully vaccinated. And in some
states, that figure is far lower. Alabama, Mississippi and Wyoming have not yet
fully vaccinated half of their total populations, according to data from the US
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Want to send us a story? Submit on Wananchi Reporting on the Citizen Digital App or Send an email to wananchi@royalmedia.co.ke or Send an SMS to 25170 or WhatsApp on 0743570000
Comments
No comments yet.
Leave a Comment