Keeping tabs on Covid-19: Living with the virus

Around the world Covid-19 restrictions are being eased as governments say it is time to start living endemically with the virus.

Since the start of the vaccination effort in the UK, the government has taken one of the most relaxed approaches to the pandemic, causing concern among scientists who have warned that Britain is taking part in a dangerous experiment that would lead to further virus mutations.

Despite criticism, Prime Minister Boris Johnson is set to push ahead with plans to end all restrictions on February 24^th, a month earlier than initially planned.  In the UK’s biggest step yet towards living with the virus, he is expected to scrap the rule for people who test positive to self-isolate, end all free testing – even for healthcare workers and those who are classed as vulnerable – and wind down the test and trace system.

The British Medical Association (BMA) has responded to the plans by calling for the government to provide scientific evidence for the decision.

Penelope Toff, chair of the BMA’s public health medicine committee, said, “With case rates still incredibly high and hundreds of deaths each day, the suggestion that self-isolation may be removed this month runs contrary to good public health practice. We must question on what scientific basis this decision is being made, and the government needs to show the evidence behind its proposals.”

Returning to normal

The UK is not alone in removing restrictions with the aim of returning to pre-pandemic life. Switzerland is set to remove almost all restrictions except the requirement to wear masks on public transport and while visiting healthcare facilities; while the mandatory five-day isolation for people who have tested positive will remain in effect until the end of March.

France, Netherlands and Denmark are among the other European countries that have also begun relaxing rules.

Around the world it is a different picture. Cases of the Omicron variant are surging in Australia, putting healthcare systems under strain, while Hong Kong's healthcare system is reported to be overwhelmed by a huge spike in infections, with patients being treated outside of crowded hospitals.

Some of the more isolated regions, that had so far avoided the pandemic, are beginning to see their first cases of infection. In the Pacific Cook Islands, the first community cases have been reported and flights have since been grounded amid concerns of the virus spreading. Kiribati is also experiencing its first outbreak of the virus since the pandemic began. In this remote Pacific country, the outbreak has been blamed on low vaccination rates, with just 33 per cent of the residents having received two vaccines.

Also in the news:

• A joint initiative led by Austrian and South African biotech partners is using a relative of the tobacco plant to produce an inhalant for covid-19 therapy
• England and Northern Ireland will offer covid-19 jabs to children aged five to 11
• Pfizer and BioNTech Omicron-targeted vaccine has been delayed. It was originally set to be released at the end of March.

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