The World Health Organization has said that it's too early to consider any immediate shift. Sanchez said the changes should not happen before the Omicron surge is over, but officials need to start shaping the post-pandemic world now: 'We are doing our homework, anticipating scenarios.' 'It's not just about the number of cases' 'What we are saying is that in the next few months and years, we are going to have to think, without hesitancy and according to what science tells us, how to manage the pandemic with different parameters,' he said Monday. Spain's centre-left Prime Minister, Pedro Sanchez, wants the European Union to consider similar changes now that the surge of the Omicron variant has shown that the disease is becoming less lethal. This image from April 2020 shows an empty street in Madrid during Spain's tight COVID-19 lockdown. That means accepting that infections will occur and providing extra care for at-risk people and patients with complications.

The idea is to move from crisis mode to control mode, approaching the virus in much the same way countries deal with flu or measles. Similar steps are under consideration in neighbouring Portugal and in Britain. With one of Europe's highest vaccination rates and one of its most pandemic-battered economies, the government is laying the groundwork to treat the next infection surge not as an emergency but an illness that is here to stay. Now, almost two years later, Spain is preparing to adopt a different COVID-19 playbook.

Children were banned from playgrounds, and the economy virtually stopped.īut officials credited the draconian measures with preventing a full collapse of the health system.

For weeks, they were not allowed outside even for exercise. When the coronavirus pandemic was first declared, Spaniards were ordered to stay home for more than three months.

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