The COVID-19 pandemic is far from over as new variants of the novel coronavirus are likely to emerge given current high levels of transmission, World Health Organization (WHO) officials said on Tuesday. The Omicron variant, which is highly transmissible, is unlikely to be the last strain of the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, as the virus is still “circulating at a very intense level” worldwide, Maria Van Kerkhove, the WHO’s technical lead officer on COVID-19, said at a briefing in Geneva. “We’re hearing a lot of people suggest that Omicron is the last variant, that it’s over after this. And that is not the case,” she said. Van Kerkhove said countries must keep up measures to curb the transmission of the virus to reduce severe disease and deaths, such as wearing masks, social distancing, and avoiding crowded areas. Researchers and health experts are hopeful that the Omicron variant, while highly …