New Delhi/Davos, Jan 17 (PTI) Warning that the COVID-19 pandemic is far from over and Omicron would not be the last variant, global health experts on Monday said a lot would depend on transmissibility and severity of the next mutants of the deadly virus.
Anthony S Fauci said that while it was difficult to predict as yet what could be the new normal, he does not think that people will roam around with their masks on forever.
He also said there is a great deal of 'disinformation' around and that is entirely destructive to a comprehensive public health endeavour.
He is also the Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) and serves as one of the key advisers to the White House and the Department of Health and Human Services on global AIDS issues, and on initiatives to bolster medical and public health preparedness.
Addressing the forum on the future of pandemic, Wilder-Smith warned that the new COVID-19 variant, Omicron, will not be the last variant.
The emergence of its fast-spreading Omicron variant, resulting in re-introduction of national lockdowns, travel bans and quarantines in various parts of the world, has reinforced the uncertainty of the COVID-19 pandemic
The World Health Organization (WHO) had declared the outbreak a 'public health emergency of international concern' on January 30, 2020, and a pandemic on March 11, 2020
Fauci added, "A global pandemic requires a global response, and we have to keep in mind the issue of equity all the time because you can't have a situation where you have virus circulating freely in one part of the world." PTI BJ RAM
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