Another Covid Wave Coming Before The Midterms

A new wave of the Covid-19 pandemic has hit Europe, and health authorities must act now to mitigate its fallout, the World Health Organization warned on Tuesday.

“Waiting for the autumn to act will be too late,” Dr Hans Kluge, WHO Regional Director for Europe, said in a statement.

“It’s now abundantly clear we’re in a similar situation to last summer – only this time the ongoing Covid-19 wave is being propelled by sub-lineages of the Omicron variant, notably BA.2 and BA.5, with each dominant sub-lineage of Omicron showing clear transmission advantages over the previously circulating viruses,” he pointed out.

Kluge warned that the rise in hospitalizations will likely accelerate in the autumn and winter as schools reopen and tourists return home from holidays. Another factor is that people will spend more time indoors than they do now, the WHO official explained.