Vickie Remoe Institute of Digital Communications

The pandemic is over! – big news from WHO

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The World Health Organisation (WHO) has declared the Covid-19 pandemic over as a global health emergency. 

This declaration comes three years after the pandemic sent the world on total lockdown and has killed more than seven million people. But Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the director of WHO, said that the true figure was “likely” closer to 20 million deaths – nearly three times the official estimate – and he warned that the virus remained a significant threat.

“Yesterday, the Emergency Committee met for the 15th time and recommended to me that I declare an end to the public health emergency of international concern. I’ve accepted that advice. It is therefore with great hope that I declare Covid-19 over as a global health emergency,” said Dr. Tedros.

Dr. Tedros further warned that this decision did not mean the danger around the virus is over and the said emergency status could be reinstated if the need arises. 

“The worst thing any country can 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,” Dr. Tedros affirmed.

The World Health Organisation first declared the pandemic a public health emergency of international concern in January 2020. Vaccines were a major turning point in the pandemic, allowing millions of people to be protected from serious illness and death.

But in many other countries, vaccines are still unable to reach those in need. Dr. Mike Ryan, an authority from the WHO health emergencies programme, said the emergency may have ended, but the threat is still around.

“We fully expect that this virus will continue to transmit and this is the history of pandemics. It took decades for the final throws of the pandemic virus of 1918 to disappear. In most cases pandemics truly end when the next pandemic begins,” said Dr. Ryan. 

Source: BBC News

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