David Nabarro, the WHO's special envoy for Covid, has warned against comparing Covid to flu
The World Health Organization today warned against comparing Covid to flu – just days after the UK Government said it intended to treat the two viruses the same.
David Nabarro, the WHO's special envoy for Covid, said the comparisons were irresponsible because they suggest 'the virus has suddenly got incredibly weak'.
He told Sky News: 'It can also mutate and form variants and we've seen several but we know there are more not far away.
'So quite honestly, we are not saying that this should be considered to be like flu or indeed like anything else — it's a new virus, and we must go on treating it as though it is full of surprises, very nasty and rather cunning.'
The official called on leaders to 'stay focused on the job' as he claimed we were only at the 'halfway mark' of the pandemic.
Parallels between coronavirus and influenza are being drawn in the UK now that Omicron is causing around the same number of deaths as a bad flu season.
Boris Johnson last week signalled his intention to lift isolation rules for Covid sufferers, highlighting that people with flu don't legally have to quarantine.
And Health Secretary Sajid Javid pointed to the UK's falling case numbers and relatively low hospital rates as he said 'we need to learn to live with Covid in the same way we have to live with flu'.
Asked about the comparisons, Dr Nabarro told Sky News: 'I keep wondering what the people who make these amazing predictions know that I and my colleagues in the WHO don't know.
'You see, what people are seeing from around the world and reporting to the WHO is this is still a very, very dangerous virus, especially for people who have not been vaccinated and who've not been exposed to it before.'
The warning against complacency came as the UK's coronavirus cases rose for the first time in more than two weeks.
Parallels between coronavirus and influenza are being drawn in the UK now that Omicron is causing around the same number of deaths as a bad flu season. The UK Health Security Agency estimates the number of flu deaths was around 15,000 in 2016/17, with about 300 people dying every day at the peak. In 2017/18, during the Aussie flu outbreak, a total of 22,000 people were killed by influenza, with in excess of 400 dying per day at the worst of the epidemic. But in 2018/19 just 4,000 were estimated to have died to the virus, with just tens of people dying per day at the peak
Another 74,799 positive tests were recorded on Sunday, marking a 5 per cent increase on the number last week.
The crisis had been in retreat since January 5 after Omicron sent daily infections to record levels, peaking at more than 218,000.
