'COVID-19 pandemic is now endemic,' says German virologist amid global surge in cases

As the world continues to struggle against COVID-19, German virologist Christian Drosten has claimed that the coronavirus pandemic is over and it is now an "endemic disease".

While speaking to Tagesspiegel Newspaper, Drosten said that after this winter, the immunity in the population would become stronger and the chances of people getting affected by COVID in the summer would largely come down, per a report published on Dawn.

The head of virology at Berlin's Charite University Hospital said, "We are experiencing the first endemic wave with Sars-CoV-2 this winter; in my estimation the pandemic is over." Meanwhile, Christian Karagiannidis, who is a member of Germany's COVID-19 expert council and an intensive care physician, said that the "pandemic will now increasingly run its course."

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Karagiannidis, however, noted that small COVID-19 waves were still possible, but this would not affect the population at large as the immunity among the people has developed significantly. Meanwhile, Drosten noted that the vaccination drive in Germany and other European countries has been the major reason for the end of the pandemic. He maintained that this is not the case in China, where COVID is rapidly spreading. Further, speaking on the government's protective measures against COVID-19, Drosten said, "If nothing had been done, there would have been a million or more deaths in Germany in the waves up to delta."

Following Dorsten's statement, the Justice Minister of Germany, Marco Buschmann, announced the removal of all restrictive measures. "We are in an endemic situation. As a political consequence, we should terminate the last coronavirus protective measures," Buschmann said. Most of the COVID-related measures have already been lifted in Germany, but people are still required to wear masks in public spaces. Likewise, there are also mandatory tests or visit restrictions at some medical facilities.

Image: AP