Irish Examiner view: Is the pandemic really over?

While public health experts point to 400 deaths per day linked to Covid-19, with some claiming it is the number-four killer in the US, Joe Biden's White House has continued to be more upbeat.

US president Joe Biden believes Covid-19 is conquered, declaring that “the pandemic is over” in an interview with the CBS 60 Minutes programme. While public health experts point to 400 deaths per day linked to the virus, with some claiming it is the number-four killer in the US, the White House has continued to be more upbeat.

Mr Biden made his comments during the Detroit Auto Show and, while acknowledging “we still have a problem with Covid”, he noted the unmasked crowds.

“The pandemic is over,” he said. “If you notice, no one’s wearing masks. Everybody seems to be in pretty good shape.”

The White House briefed that the president was simply expressing what many Americans were already feeling — that the nation has vaccines and treatments to fight the virus and that for most people, it is not a death sentence.

Message at home

Closer to home, the head of an Irish pharmaceutical company has also declared the pandemic officially over and said people should treat it as similar to a common cold this winter. Cathal Friel, executive chair and co-founder of Open Orphan and Poolbeg Pharma, told The Business Post the Government should not “overreact” when Covid-19 cases begin to peak once more.

“The Covid-19 pandemic is over,” he said. “The Government should disband its Covid-19 test centres, while there’s no need for people to be wasting their time with lateral flow antigen tests either. We just need to treat Covid-19 like the common cold or flu and just move on.”

While Ireland continues with the administration of second booster doses — more than 670,000 had been delivered by last week — scientists are working on futuristic defences against coronavirus. The journal Matter reported that researchers in China have been testing a face mask which can detect airborne Covid in 10 minutes and send an alert to the wearer via a phone app. It is also being tested for swine and bird flu.