![]() Its emergency status has persisted even as officials work to wipe out the disease from a shrinking number of countries. ![]() Polio was declared nearly nine years ago. WHO has previously declared global emergencies for outbreaks of swine flu, Zika, Ebola, polio and mpox, formerly called monkeypox. WHAT ELSE HAS BEEN DECLARED AN EMERGENCY? Ryan said that while COVID-19 will continue to spread among people for a very long time, it is doing so at a much lower level of threat that does not require the extraordinary measures taken to try to curb the virus’ spread. “Pandemics only truly end when the next pandemic begins,” he said. “It took decades … for the pandemic virus of 1918 to disappear,” he said, referring to the Spanish flu that is thought to have killed at least 40 million people. Michael Ryan said the coronavirus is still a public health threat and that its continued evolution could yet cause future problems. In April, there were nearly 3 million cases and more than 17,000 deaths reported, including spikes in Southeast Asia and the Middle East, the United Nations agency noted. “What this news means is that it’s time for countries to transition from emergency mode to managing COVID-19 alongside other infectious diseases.” ![]() “The risk remains of new variants emerging that cause new surges in cases and deaths,” Tedros said. Although WHO chief Tedros said the coronavirus emergency was over, he warned that the virus is here to stay and that thousands of people continue to die every week. Rochelle Walensky cited Friday in announcing her decision to leave as head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention next month. is ending its public health emergency Thursday, which Dr. have long dropped many of their pandemic-era restrictions. Many countries - including Britain, France, Germany and the U.S. They can also spur countries to introduce special measures to combat disease or release extra funds. WHO’s emergency declarations are typically used as an international SOS for countries that need help. ![]() The classification of a health threat as a global emergency is meant to warn political authorities that there is an “extraordinary” event that could constitute a health threat to other countries and requires a coordinated response to contain it. WHAT ARE THE PRACTICAL EFFECTS?įor the average person, nothing. On Thursday, the experts recommended to Tedros that COVID-19 no longer qualifies as a global emergency, and the WHO chief said he accepted that advice. Tedros said that for the past year, WHO and its emergency committee experts have been analyzing COVID-19 data to decide when the time would be right to lower its level of alarm. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the pandemic has been “on a downward trend for more than a year, with population immunity increasing from vaccination and infection.” That, he said, has allowed most countries “to return to life as we knew it before COVID-19,” meaning that the worst part of the pandemic is over. 30, 2020, when the disease had not even been named COVID-19 and when there were no major outbreaks beyond China.Ī look at what WHO’s decision means: WHY END THE GLOBAL HEALTH EMERGENCY? The action reverses a declaration that was first made on Jan. LONDON - The World Health Organization downgraded its assessment of the coronavirus pandemic on Friday, saying it no longer qualifies as a global emergency.
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