The UK does not recommend a fourth dose of the vaccine 1:21
(CNN) --
The United Kingdom is sticking with its plan to learn to live with the coronavirus, lifting almost all restrictions.
Starting this Thursday, residents of England will no longer have to show their Covid passes to enter nightclubs and other large venues.
It will no longer be mandatory to wear a mask in public places, although they are still recommended on public transport.
Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland will also relax their restrictions.
OPINION |
A humble prediction of what comes after the omicron variant of coronavirus
The UK government insists the decision to lift the restrictions is based on science.
The figures are positive: the large wave of new cases caused by the more transmissible omicron variant of the coronavirus during the holiday period seems to have subsided.
Official data shows the number of daily infections has fallen from a peak of more than 245,000 on January 4 to just over 60,000 on Monday.
More important than the number of cases, however, is the fact that the omicron variant, which is currently sweeping the globe, appears to be causing far fewer people to become seriously ill.
advertising
A study by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) published this Tuesday confirmed that covid-19 caused by the omicron variant is less severe, which translates into shorter hospital stays and fewer cases in intensive care units, as well as fewer deaths.
According to a Scottish study, the omicron variant is associated with a two-thirds reduction in the risk of hospitalization compared to the delta variant.
Other work carried out in South Africa revealed that hospitalization rates were 80% lower.
The UK is not the only country pushing back to normal.
The Netherlands reopened almost all its hospitality and leisure services and businesses on Wednesday, after a prolonged closure.
In an announcement on its website, the Dutch government said that although the number of cases remains high, and could rise further as people start living together more, "it believes it is responsible to take this big step."
"Despite the risks and uncertainties, the government believes it is responsible to take this big step. Because prolonging the measures that restrict our daily lives so much is also detrimental to people's health and to society as a whole," he said.
Denmark, which has in the past reversed its stance on restrictions, declaring an end to the pandemic just to restore some rules, is also easing its measures.
The country reduced the mandatory isolation time for people who test positive for covid-19 to just four days.
The government said that although the number of cases is rising, the burden of the disease is now lower than at the beginning of the pandemic, because far fewer people end up in hospitals.
And France's government announced last week that it will start relaxing its Covid-19 rules starting next week, despite having recorded some of the highest case numbers of the entire pandemic.
The Biden administration will withdraw the regulation of vaccination and covid-19 tests aimed at large companies
So could the European approach work in the United States?
The United States is currently experiencing a surge of covid-19, and experts expect it to stabilize soon.
But while hospitalizations are down in the Northeast and Midwest, they are still rising in the West and South.
Vaccination rates are likely to be the deciding factor in how safe it is to live with the coronavirus.
Although the omicron variant causes milder disease, countries with low vaccination coverage could still face overwhelmed hospitals due to large numbers of cases.
And this is where the difference lies.
Denmark has vaccinated 81% of the population, France 76%, the Netherlands 72% and the UK 71%, according to Our World in Data.
In the United States, however, only 63% of the population is fully vaccinated.
And in some states, that figure is much lower.
Alabama, Mississippi and Wyoming have yet to fully vaccinate half of their total population, according to data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Covid-19