As masks come off, experts warn the pandemic isn't over

[dirtybenny]

I will state for the record, that I don't think corona and its variants or vaccines will be ending in the next 10 years.


"This week, as many Massachusetts residents marked two years since the pandemic state of emergency by beginning to venture out again without masks, medical experts are warning this newfound sense of security is likely temporary.

The current seven-day average for new COVID cases is under 600, down from over 23,000 two months ago. But experts say seasonal surges and the possibility of new variants mean we're not done with the virus.

"Right now, the burden on health care is being readily handled," said Bill Hanage, director of the Center for Communicable Disease Dynamics at Harvard's T.H. Chan School of Public Health. "That will not necessarily remain the same in the fall and winter. And so I think it's a good idea that folks should be prepared. You know, they take their masks off, but put them away with their winter coats, because they might need them again."

In addition to more Omicron infections when the weather gets cold again and people start gathering indoors without masks, Hanage said he worries about the emergence of new variants.

"The really bad outcome, which we're worried about, would be a new variant with properties that are less pleasant than Omicron's," Hanage said."


https://www.wgbh.org/news/local-news/20 ... -isnt-over