COVID-19
COVID-19 is no longer a global health emergency: WHO
The emergency is over but the world must remain vigilant, says global body.
The WHO director general, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus announced in May that the UN health agency was downgrading COVID’s alert status that had been in place since 30 January 2020, The Guardian reported.
But he warned that COVID remained a persistent threat with the disease still killing someone every three minutes.
Tedros said the decision to downgrade the alert status did not mean the danger was over, cautioning that the emergency status could be reinstated if the situation changed. He pointed out that long COVID impacted one in 10 people who had contracted the virus and hundreds of millions of people could still need long-term care.
“The worst thing any country could do now is to use this news as a reason to let down its guard, to dismantle the systems it has built, or to send the message to its people that COVID -19 is nothing to worry about,” he said.
COVID has officially claimed more than 6.9 million lives, and affected the health of more than 765 million others, according to WHO. It said the true figures were likely to be much higher and an ongoing commitment to public health was essential.
“It is critical for governments to invest long-term in their health system and workers,” said Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
“It is critical for governments to invest long-term in their health system and workers.” — WHO director general, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus