The pandemic still constitutes a public health emergency, the world health body concludes.

WHO extended the Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) on 27 January, reported the British Medical Journal (BMJ).

A PHEIC is the highest level of global health alert the WHO can make.

WHO’s Director-General, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said countries have made great strides in increasing protection against the coronavirus.

“As we enter the fourth year of the pandemic, there is no doubt we are in a far better situation now than we were a year ago, when the Omicron wave was at its peak,” he said.

However, the number of government-reported deaths has been increasing each week since December 2022, which is concerning WHO experts. At least 170 ,000 people died from COVID-19 in December and January, according to official figures, and the actual number is probably higher because of underreporting.

A surge in infections in China after the country relaxed strict COVID restrictions in December is one driver of the global increase in deaths.

An adviser to the WHO expert committee told the news agency Reuters that the uncertainty surrounding COVID in a country of 1.4 billion people increased the likelihood of WHO extending the PHEIC.

WHO identified several challenges before the PHEIC could be declared over, with vaccination rates in low- and middle-income countries and among the highest risk demographics still insufficient, it said.

At least 170 ,000 people died from COVID-19 in December and January.