NO LONGER EMERGENCY. The World Health Organization lifts the global health emergency on coronavirus disease (Covid-19) on Friday, (May 5, 2023). This is due to the downtrend cases around the world. (File photo)
GENEVA – The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared the end of the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) global health emergency that has been in effect since 2020.
"Yesterday, the Emergency Committee met for the 15th time and recommended to me that I declare an end to the public health emergency of international concern. I've accepted that advice," WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said during a briefing in Geneva on Friday.
"It's therefore with great hope that I declare Covid-19 over as a global health emergency.”
Ghebreyesus said the lifting of the global health emergency comes amid a downward trend of Covid-19 cases around the world for more than a year already. WHO declared a global health emergency on Jan. 30, 2020.
“The pandemic has been on a downward trend, with population immunity increasing from vaccination and infection, mortality decreasing and the pressure on health systems easing,” he said, adding that most countries have been allowed to return to pre-pandemic life.
Despite this, Ghebreyesus pointed out that countries must remain vigilant about Covid-19 because the coronavirus still stays and continues to evolve, with the potential for new outbreaks.
"This virus is here to stay. It is still killing, and it’s still changing. The risk remains of new variants emerging that cause new surges in cases and deaths," he said.
He also warned that the decision to end the global public health emergency should not make countries let their guard down.
The end of the emergency phase does not mean that SARS-CoV-2 is no longer a global threat, the director general pointed out. (TASS)
