NEW DELHI: The World Health Organization (WHO) on Friday declared that the COVID-19 virus no longer represents a ‘global health emergency’. The announcement came three years after it was first declared its highest level of alert on the virus, which killed millions globally, wreaked havoc on people’s lives and forced people to live in lockdown while the economy suffered.
“With great hope, I declare COVID-19 over as a global health emergency,” WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said.
“For more than a year, the pandemic has been on a downward trend with population immunity increasing from vaccination, and infection, mortality decreasing and the pressure on health systems easing,” he added.
“This trend has allowed most countries to return to life as we knew it before COVID-19,” Tedros said.
The announcement came after the Covid-19 Emergency Committee met for the 15th time and recommended that Tedros declare “an end to the public health emergency of international concern.”
He, however, warned the decision did not mean the danger was over and cautioned that the emergency status could be reinstated if the situation changed.
Nearly seven million people have died from Covid-19 globally since the WHO first declared the emergency on January 30, 2020. Tedros said the true death toll is at least 20 million. The virus will continue to have pandemic status just like HIV, WHO said.
Though Covid-19 continues to see surges in many parts of the world, many countries have ended their states of emergency and stopped restricting public travel. The US will lift its Covid emergency on May 11.
According to WHO, there have been 765,222,932 confirmed cases of Covid-19, including 6,921,614 deaths, as of May 3, while 13,344,670,055 vaccine doses have been administered till April 29.
India reported the third highest number of Covid-19 cases at 44,952,996 and 531,564 deaths till May 3, according to the WHO.
The US tops in reporting the highest number of cases (103,266,404) and deaths (1,124,063).
Dr K Srinath Reddy, former director of the Public Health Foundation of India (PHFI), said that WHO’s decision to declare an end to the global public health emergency caused by Covid-19 is a well-judged response to the changed situation after Omicron has established itself as the dominant and durable variant over the 18 months since it emerged.
“Despite its high transmissibility and immune evasion capacity, it has manifested reduced virulence. With low rates of severe illness, hospitalisation and death, this variant has no longer imposed severe stress on health and social systems, which are also better prepared to counter the virus,” he told this paper.
“Under these circumstances, the label of a public health emergency is no longer justified. However, we must continue to be vigilant against more virulent variants through strong surveillance and strengthened health systems,” he added.
COVID-19 continues to be reported from various parts of the world, including in India.
In India, a new Omicron sub-variant XBB.1.16 is driving the surge; it is now showing a sign of decline.
The WHO recorded 2.8 million new cases globally and more than 17,000 deaths from April 3 to 30.