Anthony Fauci expresses his optimism about the possibility that the Omicron version will reach its peak in February

Anthony Fauci was optimistic this Sunday about the likelihood that the type Omicron coronavirus will reach its peak in the United States in mid-February. And from that moment the infection starts to subside.

“I am as optimistic as I can be. With this virus, you can never be overly optimistic.”said the chief epidemiologist of the United States government in an interview with the series ABC.

“But if you look at what has happened in South Africa, the UK, Israel or even New England, it is peaking and infections are decreasing rapidly,” the White House chief epidemiologist said.

Although areas such as New England and the northeastern United States have generally passed the peak of infection, in other parts of the country, such as the Southeast and West, cases are still rising, but Fauci is confident that the curve will follow the same pattern and will begin to decline in mid-February.

Governor of New York State (Northeast), Kathy Hochuluannounced on Friday that the positivity rate for the coronavirus stood at 9.75%, up from 23% a week ago, confirming the low rate of infection.

“Positivity is fading away and we’re back in the single digits for the first time since December 20th”the governor said at a press conference held at a medical laboratory.

In this sense, he stressed that the trend of new infections has declined by 66% in recent weeks and there were 28,296 new infections on Thursday.

This Sunday the World Health Organization (WHO) announced that, following the Omicron version, which may have infected 60% of Europeans before March, “it is plausible that the pandemic will end in Europe.”

“As soon as the oomicron wave calms down, there will be global immunity for a few weeks and months, either thanks to vaccines or because people will have been immune to the infection, and also a drop due to seasonality,” he told the AFP agency. Hans Klugethe World Health Organization’s regional director for Europe, although he called for caution due to the versatility of the virus.

“So we anticipate that there will be a period of peace before COVID-19 returns at the end of the year, but not necessarily a return of the pandemic”she added.

The Omicron version, which studies have shown typically causes less severe infections in vaccinated people than Delta, has raised long-awaited hopes that Covid-19 will begin to turn from a pandemic into a more manageable endemic disease like the flu. Has been doing.

The WHO indicated this Saturday that the safety of vaccines against potentially severe forms of COVID-19 has dropped to 50% with the Omicron version of the coronavirus, although that percentage rises to 80% with a booster dose.

In its sixth update on the new version, The WHO indicates that the strain has already been detected in 171 countries around the planet, and concludes that its ability to survive vaccination provided by vaccines or antibodies from recovered patients contributed to its strong global transmission. Have given.

The agency noted that the sharp increase in cases around the world has led to an increase in hospitalizations and ICU care in many countries.

The WHO stressed that the progress of infections has slowed slightly in recent weeks: they increased by 20% in the second week of this year, compared to a 55% increase in the first week.

With information from EFE and AFP

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