Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has called on European officials to consider moving to a flu-like monitoring system for COVID given falling death rates.
He said the change would mean treating COVID-19 like an "endemic" as opposed to a pandemic.
Spanish health authorities are drafting a system in which every new infection would not need to be recorded and people with symptoms would not necessarily be tested but they will continue to receive treatment.
"I believe that we have the conditions for, with precaution, slowly, opening the debate at the technical level and at the level of health professionals, but also at the European level, to start evaluating the evolution of this disease with different parameters than we have until now," the prime minister told Cadena SER radio.
He said deaths as a proportion of recorded cases have dropped considerably since the start of the pandemic.
Health Minister Carolina Darias has discussed the proposal with some of her EU counterparts, Mr Sanchez said.
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He said the change would mean treating COVID-19 like an "endemic" as opposed to a pandemic.
Spanish health authorities are drafting a system in which every new infection would not need to be recorded and people with symptoms would not necessarily be tested but they will continue to receive treatment.
"I believe that we have the conditions for, with precaution, slowly, opening the debate at the technical level and at the level of health professionals, but also at the European level, to start evaluating the evolution of this disease with different parameters than we have until now," the prime minister told Cadena SER radio.
He said deaths as a proportion of recorded cases have dropped considerably since the start of the pandemic.
Health Minister Carolina Darias has discussed the proposal with some of her EU counterparts, Mr Sanchez said.
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