People are returning to their lives Is the end of Corona imminent?

Some data shows that vaccines reduce the risk of long-term Covid infection after infection with the Corona virus

Is the end of Corona imminent, and why do British scientists warn that the next strain of Corona may be more dangerous, and what do we know so far about long-term Covid and its types?

Against these fears of the next strain of Corona, a series of announcements came from across Europe and North America to crystallize hopes that the worst of the Omicron mutated wave is over, opening the door to health experts' speculation about whether the goal of returning to normal life has really become. Affordable, according to a report in the Financial Times.

England and Denmark have announced plans to lift the remaining precautionary restrictions on the Corona virus, while the chief medical adviser to US President Joe Biden said that the height of the health crisis is about to end, and Europe's major tourist groups "TUI" (TUI) revealed that reservations are back to levels last seen before the pandemic.

The newspaper stated that the measures of social separation, self-quarantine, wearing masks, tests, tracing the infected and those in contact with them, formed the backbone of the measures recommended by the World Health Organization, but after two years and in light of the decline of the Omicron mutant, efforts are in full swing to cancel even simple precautionary measures. With a number of governments betting on high levels of population immunity and vaccination to reduce pressure on hospitals.

Under the British government's plans, all coronavirus legislation in England will expire by late February, including the abolition of the legal requirement to self-isolate after a positive "Covid-19" test result.

Corona infection numbers across Western Europe and North America are dropping

As for Sweden and Norway, they have abolished most of the restrictions, while vigorous steps are being taken in Italy and Spain to abandon the requirement to wear masks in outdoor places. Switzerland announced that it may stop using vaccine passports as early as next week, after it abandoned the rules for tracing contacts and working remotely.

The newspaper pointed out that infection numbers across Western Europe and North America began to decline, falling by 73% compared to the Omicron peak in the United States, and by 60% in each of England, Spain and Belgium.

Even in countries where the virus boom was particularly strong or long-lasting, the infection curve has changed, as it decreased in Denmark, Norway, Sweden and the Netherlands, and the most important thing is that although the number of cases exceeded the records recorded in the winter period, chronic infections and the number of cases in intensive care units did not follow suit.

Kevin Shulman, a professor of medicine at Stanford University, believes that countries and governments removing precautionary restrictions must be accompanied by an acknowledgment that “the world is not yet out of the tunnel” and that “the idea that we are done with the virus is not the right message .. we sacrificed a lot, and now we need "To work to preserve the gains made. That is the way we should think."

But the newspaper points out that despite the decisions that were issued, experts agree that due to the constant threat of new mutant, governments cannot definitively conclude that they will not need new measures again, and “the question will remain whether it is necessary to re-impose restrictions again.” ".

Why do British scientists warn that the next strain of Corona may be more dangerous?

Leading British scientists have warned that a future variant of Covid-19 could be more dangerous and cause far more deaths and cases of serious illness than the Omicron strain, according to a report in the Guardian.

As a result, many of them say that caution should be exercised in lifting COVID-19 restrictions in England.

Epidemiologist Mark Woolhouse of the University of Edinburgh highlighted the risks posed by accepting the prevailing assumption that coronavirus variables will continue to mitigate their impact.

"The omicron variant did not come from the delta variant. It came from a completely different part of the virus family tree," Woolhouse said. "Because we don't know where a new variant in the virus family tree will come from, we can't know how pathogenic it might be. They are less pathogenic but can, just as easily, be more pathogenic.”

There are more variants after omicron

This point was supported by virologist Professor Lawrence Young of the University of Warwick, who said: "People seem to think that there was a linear evolution of the virus from alpha to beta to delta to omicron... It could turn out that a new one is more pathogenic. From a delta variable, for example".

David Nabarro, the WHO's Special Envoy on COVID-19, also highlighted the uncertainty about how future variables might behave, saying, "There will be more variables after Omicron, and if they are more transmissible they will dominate. In addition to That is, they may cause different types of disease, in other words they may turn out to be more lethal or have long-term consequences."

Nabarro urged authorities to continue planning for a possible surge in patients requiring hospital care, as it would be wise to encourage people to constantly protect themselves and others. An approach that does not do so would be a gamble with potentially disastrous consequences. I can't see any winnings for such a gamble. The pandemic has a long way to go - and as it has since it began - people and their long-term leaders will influence its impact through the actions they take now."

Long-term Covid... What do we know so far?

Two years after the outbreak of the "Covid-19" epidemic, researchers are still working to find out the causes of long-term side effects, why some people suffer from it, while the other part does not, and how should these symptoms be dealt with?

At the start of the epidemic, many patients said their complaints about long-term symptoms of Covid were not taken seriously by their doctors. Now, more than two years after the start of the epidemic, things have changed.

We know more about the condition called "Long Covid", meaning the long-term symptoms after infection with "Covid-19". These symptoms are present in millions of people around the world, according to a report in Deutsche Welle.

When a person is infected with long-term Covid, the symptoms of infection with the Corona virus - its scientific name “SARS-CoV-2” does not end with the virus leaving the human body, as some symptoms can persist for long months, such as breathing difficulties. Extreme fatigue and chest pain, which makes returning to normal life difficult.

Some studies indicate that between 14% and 30% of “Covid-19” patients develop at least one long-term symptom of Covid, within 90 days of their recovery from infection.

This means that with more than 400 million cases of “Covid-19” recorded around the world so far, between 55 million and 120 million suffer from long-term Covid.

However, there is little data on the long-term effects of Covid on individuals and society as a whole. It will take years before we have reliable data on this. So far, scientists' studies indicate that it varies from person to person, and the reasons for the long-term emergence of Covid are still a mystery.

What are the types of long-term Covid?

Long-term COVID is defined as a heterogeneous syndrome, which can be caused by different factors or a combination of factors, meaning that there is more than one type of long-term Covid.

“There are at least two different types: one of them occurs in patients with Covid-19, whose infection was so severe that they were treated in the intensive care unit and their lives were at risk. The second type occurs in those with mild or moderate symptoms,” says Joachim Schulze, researcher at the center. German Brain Research.

The most severe form of long-term Covid occurs, as a result of damage to several parts of the body.

Do vaccines protect us from long-term Covid?

Some data shows that vaccines reduce the likelihood of developing long-term Covid-19 after infection with the Corona virus.

Vaccines, although they do not protect us from infection with "Covid-19", but they reduce - as Joachim Schulze says - our exposure to infection, and they also greatly reduce symptoms if we are infected.It is important that scientists work to develop treatments for corona and new diagnostic tools .