At a press conference on May 5, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus officially declared an end to the global health emergency over the Covid-19 pandemic after more than 3 years, according to Reuters.
"Yesterday, the Emergency Committee met for its 15th session and recommended that I declare the public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC) to be terminated. I have accepted this advice," Mr. Ghebreyesus said.
A person walks past an illustration of a virus in Oldham, England on August 3, 2020.
The official said the Covid-19 pandemic has been on the decline for more than a year, allowing most countries to return to their previous normal lives.
The WHO Emergency Committee first issued its highest alert level for Covid-19 on January 30, 2020, about six weeks before the WHO began using the word pandemic to refer to the disease. This helped raise international attention to the common health threat and boost collaboration on vaccines and treatments.
According to CNN, PHEIC creates consensus among countries to comply with WHO recommendations in managing emergencies. Each country declares its own health emergency to mobilize resources or relax regulations to alleviate the crisis.
Last year, US President Joe Biden declared the pandemic over. The world's No. 1 economy is set to end its Covid-19 health emergency on May 11, meaning related costs such as vaccines will not be free.
The lifting of the PHEIC is a significant step forward, but the WHO warns that Covid-19 remains a global health threat.
According to WHO data, more than 765 million Covid-19 infections have been recorded since the beginning of the pandemic and nearly 7 million people have died. Europe has the largest number of infections but the Americas have the highest number of deaths. The number of deaths in the US accounts for about 1/6 of the global number.
Cases peaked in December 2022 as the Omicron variant swept across continents, particularly in the Western Pacific . Billions of vaccine doses have been administered globally and deaths are far below peak levels.
In the week ending April 24, the world had about 3,500 deaths while at the peak in January 2021 there were more than 100,000 deaths per week.
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