Just Earth News | @justearthnews | 04 Dec 2021, 04:24 am Print

Image: Wallpaper Cave
Moscow/UNI/Sputnik: The spread of the Omicron coronavirus variant may result in the end of the COVID-19 pandemic, the professor of Russia's Gamaleya National Research Center of Epidemiology told Sputnik Radio.
"Delta will go away, and this virus might take its place, but the pandemic will be not that dangerous. Now, around 3% die, and with this strain [Omicron], if it really spreads, the pathogenicity is likely to decrease. If coronavirus is comparable in lethality to influenza, then we will consider the pandemic to be over. The pandemic has a chance of ending with Omicron," Anatoly Altshtein said.
The expert added that the strain will not spread widely before the New year. Omicron does not provoke serious course of the disease, according to the scientific data.
"However, the future can undermine my hypothesis, because the virus has not probably reached the elderly yet," Altshtein stressed.
Last week, the World Health Organization identified the new Omicron strain of the coronavirus, first reported in South Africa, as one of concern.
- Nature may help those suffering from chronic back pain, shows study
- UN says AIDS still killing one person every minute
- WHO alerts flavoured nicotine products driving youth addiction
- UN study reveals alcohol consumption is linked to higher risk of pancreatic cancer
- Even few nights of insufficient sleep can affect heart problems, reveals study