NEW DELHI: Covid-19 is no longer a global health emergency, the World Health Organization declared on Friday. The announcement by the global health body is a major step towards the end of the pandemic that has killed more than 6.9 million people, disrupted the global economy and ravaged communities.
It is "with great hope that I declare Covid-19 over as a global health emergency", WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told reporters, estimating that the pandemic had killed "at least 20 million" people -- nearly three times the official estimate.
World Health Organisation (WHO) declares #COVID19 over as a global health emergency. pic.twitter.com/6Rm8bLJigI
— ANI (@ANI) May 5, 2023
Tedros added that he wouldn't hesitate to reconvene experts to reassess the situation should Covid-19 “put our world in peril.”
The WHO chief said the pandemic had been on a downward trend for more than a year, acknowledging that most countries have already returned to life before Covid-19. He bemoaned the damage that Covid-19 had done to the global community, saying the virus had shattered businesses and plunged millions into poverty.
Lifting it is a sign of the progress the world has made in these areas, but Covid-19 is here to stay, the WHO said, even if it no longer represents an emergency.
The WHO's emergency committee first declared that Covid-19 represented its highest level of alert more than three years ago, on January 30, 2020. The status helps focus international attention on a health threat, as well as bolster collaboration on vaccines and treatments.
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 vaccine.
