Breathing easier two years on
With Covid-19 case numbers plummeting, Emily Safrin did something she hadn’t done since the pandemic began two years ago: she put her fears aside and went to a concert.
The fully vaccinated and boosted restaurant server in Portland, Oregon planned to keep her mask on, but as reggaeton star Bad Bunny took the stage and the energy in the crowd soared, she ripped it off. Soon afterwards, she was strolling unmasked in a trendy Portland neighbourhood with friends.
Two years after the World Health Organisation declared Covid-19 a pandemic, changing the world overnight, relief and hope are creeping back in after a long, dark period of loss, fear and deep uncertainty about the future.
‘‘Everyone was supposed to be vaccinated or have a negative test, and I said, ‘What the heck,
I’m just gonna live my life’,’’ Safrin said. ‘‘It was overwhelming, to be honest, but it also felt great to be able to just feel a little bit normal again.’’
The world is finally emerging from a brutal stretch of northern hemisphere winter dominated by the highly contagious Omicron variant, bringing a sense of relief on the second anniversary of the start of the pandemic.
It was March 11, 2020 when the World Health Organisation issued its declaration, driving home the severity of the threat faced by a virus that at that point had wreaked havoc primarily in Italy and China.
Since then, more than 6 million people have died globally, including nearly 1 million in the United States. Millions have been thrown out of work, and students have endured three school years of disruptions.
The emergence of a vaccine in December 2021 saved countless lives – but political divisions, hesitancy, and inequality in health systems have kept millions of people around the world from getting inoculated, prolonging the pandemic.
The situation is improving, however.
In its latest pandemic report, the WHO said infections and deaths were down across the globe, with only one region – the western Pacific – seeing a rise in cases. The Middle East and Africa saw cases drop by 46 and 40 per cent, respectively.
The Omicron wave and vaccinations have left enough people with protection against the coronavirus that future spikes are likely to require much less disruption to society, experts say.
Mask mandates, vaccine requirements and other Covid-19 measures are being eliminated everywhere. The last statewide mask mandate in the US, in Hawaii, will end in two weeks.
But health experts are also urging caution. Dr Albert Ko, an infectious disease physician and epidemiologist at the Yale School of Public Health, cautioned against any victory declarations, especially with the potential of another variant lurking around the corner.
‘‘The big question is, are they going to be as mild or less severe as Omicron?’’ Ko said. ‘‘Are they going to be potentially more severe?’’