The global pandemic should come to an end this year, according to officials at the World Health Organization (WHO). This is not to say that the virus will end, that it will no longer be classified as a pandemic but, instead, will be classified as an endemic – managed at a local level in each country.
Speaking at the WHO’s last briefing on the coronavirus for the year 2021, WHO Director-General, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said: “2022 must be the end of the COVID-19 pandemic. We know the virus very well and we have the tools [in place to fight against it].”
Despite this declaration, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) noted on Tuesday that preliminary data suggest that the Omicron variant is up to three times more infectious than the Delta variant. “We have estimated the effective instantaneous reproduction number of Omicron as 3.19 times greater than that of Delta under the same epidemiological conditions,” the CDC reported.
Health agencies continue to encourage persons to utilise the available tools for ending the pandemic – adherence to practising the COVID-19 health protocols. “Mask use and layered prevention strategies, such as receiving all recommended vaccination and booster doses, physical distancing, screening testing, and improved ventilation, are key to preventing COVID-19 and decreasing transmission,” the CDC emphasised.
WHO Director-General, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, observed that “implementing all the tools [in place to fight against COVID-19] effectively, and equitably, remains the big issues to overcome, even as health agencies continue to monitor the highly transmissible Omicron variant and the severity of disease caused by it.”
The COVID-19 Anguilla Dashboard Update as of 4:00 pm, January 3, 2022, notes that Anguilla has reported 69 active cases of COVID-19. Since the previous update, there was 1 new COVID-19 related death, bringing the total COVID-19 deaths to 6. To date, there is no evidence that any of the recent confirmed cases are of the Omicron variant.
The Ministry of Health reminds persons to continue to reduce the risk of COVID-19 infection by adhering to the established health protocols.
