Early waves had extremely high ICU/death rates because it killed off the most vulnerable.

That combined with vaccines reduced ICU/death rates, but they are still present.

For POLITICALLY motivated reasons, not for public safety reasons, most areas have stopped collecting data, concealing infection, ICU, and death rates related the COVID, making it look like things have subsided, but we dont know, because we arent maintaining the reporting systems.

At present, I believe there are 3 new worry-some variants. They are EXTREMELY infectious, compared to earlier strains.

There is also a disturbing trend in the newer variants that they don't go straight for the respiratory system. You get infected, it incubates in some focused area of your body, you get a little sick for a day or 2, it continues to fortify its presence in the body, and then you get slammed with the full blown covid symptoms for a few weeks.

That means the new strains are spreading without symptoms for a MUCH greater period of time, and the Long Covid effects of those strains are more severe.

Here is a good metaphor. If Ukraine just got bored of Russia's invasion and decided that they were just going to return to their life as it was before Russia invaded, does that mean that the Russian invasion is over?

People just decided they were sick of masks and social distancing, and decided that it was over... but its not. Covid is now near endemic, and it is mutating at the alarming pace you would expect from Covid at endemic levels. Its only a matter of time until strains that REALLY go after the heart and the liver as well as the lungs surface, and when that happens, it will make Wave 1 of the pandemic look like child's play.