The World Health Organization said on Friday that COVID-19 no longer constitutes a global health emergency, taking a major step towards ending the pandemic that has killed more than 6.9 million people and harmed the global economy and societies.
The WHO Emergency Committee met on Thursday and recommended that the United Nations organization declare an end to the public health emergency of international concern that has been in place for more than three years.
"I declare ... the end of COVID-19 as an international health emergency," said WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, adding that ending the state of emergency does not mean the end of the threat posed by Covid-19 to global health.
The WHO Emergency Committee first declared COVID-19 its highest alert level more than three years ago, on January 30, 2020. The designation helps focus international attention on the health threat and promotes cooperation on vaccines and treatments.
The World Health Organization said the lifting of COVID-19 from emergencies is a sign of the progress the world has made in these areas, but it is still here and will remain, even if it is no longer an emergency.
"Covid changed the world, it changed us. And this is how things should be. If we go back to the way things were before Covid-19, that will mean that we have not learned the lesson, and future generations will let us down," Gebresos said. WHO data showed that the death rate from the disease slowed from a peak of more than 100,000 people per week in January 2021 to just over 3,500 in the week ending April 24, 2023.
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