Scotland’s National Clinical Director has said that the Covid-19 pandemic is far from over although the Omicron wave appears to be ending.
Professor Jason Leitch said that Scotland is “not close” to being “after the pandemic”, but was hopeful that the wave caused by the latest variant was receding.
Professor Leitch echoed the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) belief that the world has “half-way” through the pandemic and said that the reimposition of furure restrictions could not be ruled out if another variant of concern appears.
Speaking to BBC Radio Scotland, Prof Leitch said: “I am very hopeful, but this is not ‘after the pandemic’. This is not close to ‘after the pandemic’.
“We are getting close to the end of Omicron, We’re not close to ‘after the pandemic’. The WHO think we’re about half-way through. This pandemic won’t end in February.
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“Omicron is going very well now and the numbers are falling. The numbers in hospital are below 1,000 for the first time in months. The numbers in intensive care are below 20 for the first time I can remember.”
He added: “Our cases are still a little bit too high for my tastes – 6,000 a day. There’s still too many deaths – 142 died in the last survey last week. So we’re not over it.”
Numbers in hospital are dropping
Prof Leitch said that he was hopeful that Scotland was heading to a position where the remaining restrictions could be removed.
However, he said that Covid-19 was not becoming ‘endemic’, as some have claimed.
He said: “Endemic does not mean it’s gone away – endemic means its predictable and we know when it’s coming. Malaria is endemic and it kills half a million a year.
“Endemic does not mean [Covid-19 is] ‘flu’. We know [flu] comes in the winter, we know who it affects, so we can react.
“We don’t live as normal [around it]. We get vaccinated. We treat people for it.”
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Prof Leitch added that it was impossible to rule out a future return to lockdown, stating that a “reverse gear” could be needed in the event of the emergence of a new variant which posed a danger.
The Scottish Government is due to publish a strategic framework setting out the future steps on living with Covid-19, which Prof Leitch said would “have to have” a section setting out contingencies for a future mutation of the virus which posed a threat.
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