COVID-19 no longer qualifies as a “global health emergency”, the World Health Organization (WHO) says.
The announcement on Friday came more than three years after the United Nations health agency declared its highest level of alert over the devastating virus. this
triggered lockdowns, upended economies and killed millions of people worldwide
The WHO said that even though the emergency phase was over, the pandemic declared in March 2020 has not come to an end. Noting recent spikes in cases in Southeast Asia and the Middle East.
The agency said thousands of people are still dying from the coronavirus every week.
Tedros said the pandemic had been on a downward trend for more than a year. Acknowledging that most countries have already returned to how life was before COVID-19 emerged.
He bemoaned the damage that COVID-19 had done to the global community. Saying the disease had shattered businesses and plunged millions of people into poverty.
Tedros also noted that there were likely at least 20 million COVID-19 deaths. Far more than the officially reported 7 million.
When the WHO first declared the coronavirus to be a public health emergency of international concern on January 30, 2020. It had not yet been named COVID-19, and there were no major outbreaks beyond China.
More than three years later, the virus has caused an estimated 764 million cases globally. And about 5 billion people have received at least one dose of a vaccine.
The WHO’s highest level of alert helps focus international attention on a health threat and bolsters collaboration on vaccines and treatments.