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Europe considers new Covid-19 strategy
With one of Europe's highest vaccination rates and its most pandemic-battered economies, the Spanish government is laying the groundwork for a new different Covid-19 playbook.
The idea is to move from crisis mode to control mode, from pandemic to endemic, approaching the virus in much the same way countries deal with flu or measles.
Similar steps are under consideration in Portugal and the United Kingdom, whose government says that the omicron wave has peaked.
The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control expects more nations from the European Union to follow.
The shift could mean changes in how new infections are recorded, tolerating contagion while providing extra care for at-risk people and patients with complications.
Meanwhile, in England, government advice to work from home, and face masks in classrooms, are being dropped, beginning from today.
Mandatory face coverings in public places, and COVID passes for large events, will also be removed next week.
The government says the Omicron Covid-19 peak is passing, and the booster vaccination rollout means the economy can be one of the most open in Europe.
