The World Health Organization dropped the global emergency designation for COVID-19 on Friday, more than three years after it was initially proclaimed, ordering states to treat the virus alongside other infectious diseases.
Following a meeting on Thursday, the World Health Organization’s Emergency Committee recommended that the UN organization suspend the “public health emergency of international concern” designation that has been in place since January 30, 2020, due to the continuing coronavirus epidemic.
“It is therefore with great hope that I declare COVID-19 over as a global health emergency,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said, cautioning that the end of the emergency did not mean that COVID was no longer a global health risk.
During a lengthy conference call with the press to tell them of the decision, several World Health Organization (WHO) personnel were irritated.
Those funeral pyres must not go unnoticed. Those who were laid to rest there will never be forgotten. “No one in this room will ever forget them,” said Maria Van Kerkhove, WHO’s COVID-19 technical lead.
According to World Health Organization (WHO) statistics, the COVID mortality rate has decreased from a high of more than 100,000 persons per week in January 2021 to just over 3,500 in the week ending April 24, 2023, as a result of increased vaccination rates, the availability of improved treatments, and a degree of community immunity from previous infections.
Many people have already adapted as the pandemic faded in different parts of the world, but the end of the emergency may mean the end of international collaboration or financial efforts or a shift in priority.
The conflict is far from over. The remaining weaknesses in our system will be exploited by this or another virus. “This is a problem that needs to be fixed,” said Michael Ryan, WHO’s chief of emergency.
Although the WHO did not use the term COVID until March 2020, it does not formally declare the start or end of the pandemic.
Last year, US President Joe Biden pronounced the pandemic to be over. When the domestic state of emergency for COVID officially ends on May 11, the world’s biggest economy, along with a number of other countries, will stop paying for vaccines and testing for many people, instead delegating such tasks to the private sector.
The European Union stated that the pandemic’s emergency phase had ended in April of last year, and other regions have followed suit.
The WHO declaration came only four months after China dropped its lengthy, harsh COVID restrictions, resulting in a massive increase in infections.
This decision may also signal that WHO officials believe a new, more dangerous coronavirus variant is unlikely to emerge in the next months, despite the virus’s intrinsic unpredictability.
“I will not hesitate to convene another emergency committee should COVID-19 once again put our world in danger,” stated WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
Mask usage and diagnostic testing have both decreased dramatically in different parts of the world. Mask wear requirements have been restored in some countries after COVID outbreaks. The WHO issued a policy this week to assist governments in dealing with COVID in the long term.
Infectious disease experts concur that COVID, particularly prolonged COVID, will provide a long-term challenge to healthcare systems across the world. The University of Edinburgh’s Mark Woolhouse, an epidemiologist, advised that “no one should take (this) to mean COVID-19 is no longer a problem.”
“It is still a significant public health problem and appears likely to remain so for the foreseeable future,” according to the report.
