Ireland is heading into the second weekend of practically no Covid-19 restrictions with just mask wearing now remaining for most.
All signs are that the Covid pandemic is close to being over but the World Health Organisation is wary of a new variant coming and ruining the party.
Pubs, clubs, packed stadiums and everything that was lost to the pandemic are likely to be back for good if expert predictions that any new variants would be less deadly are correct.
But the WHO said that this commonly-held belief is not guaranteed.
WHO official Maria Van Kerkhove has warned against theories that the virus will continue to mutate into milder strains that make people less sick than earlier variants.
Speaking in recent days, Van Kerkhove said: “The next variant of concern will be more fit, and what we mean by that is it will be more transmissible because it will have to overtake what is currently circulating.
"The big question is whether or not future variants will be more or less severe.
There is no guarantee of that. We hope that that is the case, but there is no guarantee of that and we can’t bank on it."
Ireland's Dr Mike Ryan added: “The virus has proven to give us some nasty surprises."
He added: “If there’s a nasty surprise that we can at least put in place measures again that will stop this new variant doing any more damage.”
At the moment Ireland has no major concerns about Covid with cases plummeting and the Omicron variant in the rear mirror.
