The World Health Organization has said that the omicron variant could infect more than half of Europeans, and the coronavirus should not yet be considered an influenza-like endemic disease.

More than 7 million new cases were reported in Europe in the first week of 2022, more than doubling in a two-week period, WHO Director for Europe Hans Kluge said at a briefing.

According to Kluge, 50 of the 53 countries in Europe and Central Asia have reported cases of the more contagious variant. However, there is emerging evidence that omicron affects the upper respiratory tract more than the lungs, causing milder symptoms than previous options. But the WHO has warned that more research is needed to prove this.

Earlier, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said that it might be time to change the way we track the evolution of COVID-19, and use a method similar to influenza monitirongue. This would mean treating the virus as an endemic disease rather than a pandemic, without registering every case and testing all people with symptoms.

But that’s a long way off, Katherine Smallwood, WHO’s Senior Emergency Officer for Europe, said at a briefing, adding that endemicity requires stable and predictable transmission.