The COVID-19 pandemic no longer constitutes a global health emergency, the World Health Organization (WHO) said last May 5.
“[It is] with great hope that I declare Covid-19 over as a global health emergency,” WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus announced in a media conference after the organization’s independent emergency committee meeting on the COVID-19 crisis.
WHO’s emergencies director Michael Ryan, however, warned countries against being complacent saying “the battle is not over” despite the lifting of the highest level of alert on COVID-19.
“We still have weaknesses and those weaknesses that we still have in our system will be exposed by this virus or another virus. And it needs to be fixed,” he said.
The WHO first declared the “public health emergency of international concern” status over the COVID-19 crisis on January 30, 2020.
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Globally, over 6.92 million died due to COVID-19 while around 765.22 million people have been infected with the virus based on official WHO data.
In the Philippines, the Department of Health (DOH) recorded 4.1 million total cases of the viral respiratory illness with 66,453 deaths as of writing.
The DOH. the head agency of the government’s pandemic task force, has welcomed WHO’s decision adding that it will discuss new policies and reassess existing guidelines following the UN health agency’s latest declaration.
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Thumbnail photo courtesy of Canva
