Editorial Ta Nea: Warnings that the pandemic is not over

Today, COVID-19 is 40 times less deadly than the initial variant. Yet, scientists are hardly complacent. On the contrary, they warn that it is too soon to lift key public health measures.

“The pandemic is not over,” experts keep repeating, underlining that if certain public health measures are not enforced, then a fifth wave of the epidemic cannot be ruled out.

Just a few days ago, the head of the WHO warned that the global massive increase in the number of recorded infections – which we have witnessed in Greece as well – could be just the tip of the iceberg, as more and more countries are conducting fewer diagnostic tests.

The highly contagious BA.2 Omicron variant is here and has superseded Omicron.

This is not the first time that the wrong signals – such as the elimination of the compulsory wearing of masks outdoors or talk of eliminating the requirement that vaccination certificates be required at restaurants, cafes, and bars – have been conveyed to the public.

Precisely because we have accumulated experience from the deleterious results of a loosening of measures in the past, the state and the citizenry must be exceptionally careful.

The war against inflation has created new, emergency circumstances, yet we must not forget the lingering impact of past emergencies.

Thanks to vaccines, we are learning to live with COVID-19, but it is up to us to avert future surges in the epidemic.