Acute phase of Covid pandemic could end in 2022: WHO

The WHO said it was too early to draw conclusions on the severity of the Omicron variant

Representative image. Credit: AP/PTI file photo

The acute phase of the Covid-19 pandemic could end next year but the Coronavirus will not disappear, the World Health Organization's Mike Ryan said on Wednesday.

Ryan, the WHO's top emergency expert, also said it was too early to draw conclusions on the severity of the Omicron variant until it had spread more widely to older people.

Meanwhile, World Health Organization (WHO) director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on Wednesday said that the simultaneous circulation of the Delta and Omicron variants of the Coronavirus is creating a "tsunami of cases".

"Delta and Omicrom are now twin threats driving up cases to record numbers, leading to spikes in hospitalisation and deaths," said Tedros.

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