Behavioral psychologist Tomas Pueyo was once one of the first to warn of the coronavirus. Some of his sayings such as “Flatten the curve” (German: flattening of the curve) became winged words in March 2020. They were also used to justify the initial lockdown measures. Now Pueyo thinks: “It’s time to start life again.” With Omikron we are heading towards the end of the pandemic. There is a high probability that everything will be over in a few weeks. However, the states would also have to have the courage to consistently lift the far-reaching measures.
The omicron wave will probably be the last to worry, says Pueyo in an article. His assessment: “Unless a new variant emerges that escapes the immune system and has a higher virulence, we should start to relax and live our lives the way we want to.” Only if the states now scale back their drastic measures could they regain confidence. Pueyo addresses state leaders directly in his article: “You have increased your powers during the Covid. If you return them and prepare legislation for the next pandemic, citizens will trust you more next time.”
Several factors would now change with Omikron, and with them the cost-benefit calculation, says Pueyo. Restrictive measures would be too expensive. After the end of the omicron wave, the risk posed by Covid will be lower than that of the flu before the pandemic. The Spaniard of French origin underscores this with several references
Omicron has 50 percent fewer hospital admissions and 90 percent fewer deaths compared to the Delta variant, and approximately 75 percent fewer deaths than the original variant. Omicron is only about twice as virulent as normal flu. Pueyo refers to studies from Great Britain, California and – with some caution – from South Africa and Scotland.
Good vaccines also reduce mortality by about 90 percent, and drug treatment with Paxlovid by the same percentage. In total, the mortality rate for Covid had fallen by three orders of magnitude, namely by 99.9 percent (see above). This means that Covid is now more than ten times less deadly than normal flu.
