Days after it noted that the health situation is recovering across the Covid-torn countries, the World Health Organization (WHO) on Friday declared that Covid-19 no longer qualifies as a global emergency. But at the same time, it treaded cautiously as it added that the pandemic hasn’t come to an end. The cautious note comes amid recent spikes in cases in Southeast Asia and the Middle East. The UN Health agency noted that thousands of people are still dying from the virus every week.
“It’s with great hope that I declare Covid-19 over as a global health emergency,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said. “That does not mean Covid-19 is over as a global health threat.”
The WHO made its decision to lower its highest level of alert on Friday, after convening an expert group on Thursday when it had also announced that the health system across the countries is gradually improving.
The UN Health agency had first declared the coronavirus to be an international crisis on January 30, 2020.
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.
When Tedros declared Covid-19 to be an emergency in 2020, he said his greatest fear was the virus’ potential to spread in countries with weak health systems he described as “ill-prepared.”
In fact, some of the countries that suffered the worst Covid-19 death tolls were previously judged to be the best-prepared for a pandemic, including the US and Britain. According to WHO data, the number of deaths reported in Africa account for just 3 per cent of the global total.
The WHO is the only agency mandated to coordinate the world’s response to acute health threats, but the organization faltered repeatedly as the coronavirus unfolded. The WHO also recommended against members of the public wearing masks to protect against Covid-19 for months, a mistake many health officials say cost lives.