WHO downgrades COVID pandemic, says it’s no longer emergency

Geneva, May 5 (BNA): COVID-19 no longer qualifies as a global emergency, the World Health Organization said Friday, marking a symbolic end to a devastating coronavirus pandemic that has triggered unimaginable lockdowns, crashed economies and killed millions. of people all over the world.

The declaration, made more than three years after the World Health Organization declared the coronavirus an international crisis, offers some relief, if not an end, to a pandemic that has sparked fear and suspicion, wringing hands and pointing fingers around the world.

UN health agency officials said that while the emergency phase is over, the pandemic is not over, pointing to the recent rise in cases in Southeast Asia and the Middle East.

The World Health Organization says thousands of people continue to die from the virus every week, and millions more suffer debilitating and long-term effects.

“It is with great hope that I declare the end of COVID-19 as a global health emergency,” said WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

“This does not mean that COVID-19 is gone as a global health threat,” he said, adding that he would not hesitate to reconvene experts to assess the situation if the new alternative “endangers our world.” He noted that while the official number of deaths due to COVID-19 was 7 million, the real figure was estimated to be at least 20 million.

The pandemic has been on a downward trend for more than a year, Tedros said, acknowledging that most countries had already returned to pre-COVID-19 life.

He lamented the damage COVID-19 has done to the global community, saying the pandemic has broken businesses, exacerbated political divisions, spread misinformation and plunged millions into poverty.

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