COVID-19: Omicron first 'ray of light' towards living with the pandemic, claims expert

The emergence of the Omicron variant of the COVID-19 virus could be the "first ray of light" towards living with the pandemic, said Dr Mike Tildesley, a member of the Scientific Pandemic Influenza Group on Modelling (Spi-M). Speaking to Times Radio on Saturday, Dr Tildesley also claimed that Omicron could be an indicator that in the future the novel Coronavirus would become a less severe variant, something similar to a common cold. However, he stressed that with the skyrocketing number of COVID positive cases and hospitalisations in the UK "we are not there yet."

"The thing that might happen in future is you may see the emergence of the new variant that is less severe, and ultimately, in the long term, what happens is COVID becomes endemic and you have a less severe version," Dr. Tildesley, who is also a professor at the University of Warwick, told Times Radio.

"It is very similar to the common cold that we have to live with for many years. However, we are not quite there yet but possibly Omicron is the first ray of light there that suggests that may happen in the long term. It is, of course, much more transmissible than Delta was, which is concerning, but much less severe," he added.

Hoping to witness more "inter-relationship of living with COVID as an endemic disease," Dr. Tildesley also emphasised that as the world will move towards spring "we will see the back of Omicron." It is pertinent to mention that his statement comes as hospitalisation rates in the UK are rising at an unprecedented rate. On 8 January, the UK reported at least 146,390 fresh cases of COVID. Additionally, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) also confirmed 313 deaths in 28 days of a positive test. The tally marks a 40% rise in a week since February 18.

London hospitals face staff crisis: NHS

Speaking at the radio interview, Dr Tildesley highlighted that despite the raging number of hospitalisations, London has displayed a drop in the number of cases. However, as per National Health Services (NHS), there is a severe shortage of staff at hospital trusts in England. On January 2, at least 39,142 NHS staff were absent due to COVID. The number was estimated 59% up from the previous week and more than triple than the beginning of December, The Guardian reported. In London, especially, 35,835 frontline NHS staff from 22 trusts were absent in seven days due to the virus. In order to plug vacancies, England on Saturday began to deploy 200 military personnel across the capital's hospitals.

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