Van Gucht emphasizes at VTM NIEUWS that it is still too early to equate the coronavirus with the flu. According to the virologist, this is due to the current omikron wave, which ensures that the infections continue to rise and which also continues to increase the pressure on hospitals. “Omikron can still cause serious illness, you see that especially in unvaccinated people,” the virologist adds.
Still, Van Gucht thinks that we will be able to treat the coronavirus as a flu in the long run. “That means we don’t have to do contact tracing or preventive quarantines anymore. But it will be a gradual process and it is not immediately,” it sounds.
According to Van Gucht, the future looks a bit rosier. “I think we’re going to have a very nice spring and a very nice summer,” he says. Next autumn and in the winter we will again face a period of uncertainty, but according to the virologist that will also improve every year. Van Gucht argues that our immunity will continue to grow and believes that the risks of the pandemic will gradually disappear, although there is “still too much uncertainty” for that.