Pandemic not over, masks still important - Parisi

(ANSA) - ROME, JUN 21 - Italian Nobel-prize-winning physicist Giorgio Parisi said Tuesday that people still need to take precautions to prevent COVID-19 contagion, even though the worse of the pandemic is over.
    "They say it's all over, but it isn't," Parisi told ANSA.
    "Only the acute phase is over and facemasks are still important.
    "The ongoing new wave of COVID-19 will bring its weight to bear, starting with the emergency rooms.
    "We are going into a situation in which the epidemic is becoming chronic.
    "It's difficult to have precise data in Italy, but it is estimated that in Great Britain 98% of people have been ill (with the coronavirus) or are vaccinated.
    "In practice, the number of people who have never encountered the Spike protein is negligible".
    Italy has dropped almost all of its COVID-linked restrictions although facemasks are still needed to travel on public transport and enter care homes and hospitals. (ANSA).