In stark contrast with everything we thought we knew since the outbreak of the pandemic, the more Israelis become infected with the Omicron variant of the coronavirus, the more restrictions we are rolling back. Mandatory quarantine periods have been shortened from 14 to five days, at-home antigen testing is now enough to end mandatory quarantine, and quarantines for students exposed to confirmed COVID carriers will soon be a thing of the past.
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The more the data points to Omicron causing mild illness, the more confident experts feel we can get our routine lives back on track.
While we are unlikely to wake up one morning to a declaration that the pandemic is over, we will be able to identify that moment in retrospect. In fact, we can already see how much things have changed thanks to vaccines, preventative medicine, and the mild symptoms caused by the Omicron variant.
Masking is likely to stick around in the public space as are concerns of infection, in particular among high-risk groups. Yet with every passing day, we are fast approaching the moment when we can treat the coronavirus as a seasonal disease. The main questions we must now ask are: When will such a decision be made, and what information-based data does the health system require to make the strategic decision that will see us shift from managing a pandemic to managing endemic illness?
Informed risk management has an inseparable role in the medical world. Could a new coronavirus variant suddenly appear that changes the rules and sees the return of restrictions? The answer is yes.
The coronavirus changes at a relatively quick rate, even in relation to the flu. This makes it unstable, and as such, a risk. But do concerns of future uncertainty justify avoiding a return to routine life? Absolutely not. Furthermore, alongside existing information on long COVID, it will be many years before the long-term effects of the virus on human health become clear.
We cannot manage today's health policy based on what we may discover in another 10 or 20 years down the line. In light of the information gathered in Israel and around the world, senior health system officials feel more confident about taking calculated risks to enjoy the many benefits of getting our lives back on track.
It's not that the health system has recently decided to give up and give into external dictates. It is simply managing risks and adopting health policies to the reality on the ground. As of today, and in the hope COVID won't surprise us for the worse as it has before, there is reason to believe we may all soon return to routine life.
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