The coronavirus is no longer a global health crisis, declares the World Health Organization WHO at a press conference.
– It is with great hope that I declare that covid-19 no longer constitutes a global health emergency, says Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
The announcement comes after the WHO’s expert committee for the pandemic held its last meeting on Thursday.
Including this week’s meeting, the expert panel has met 15 times since the outbreak of the pandemic over three years ago. The independent group meets every three months and reports directly to the WHO Director-General. After the meeting, they recommended that Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus declare that the coronavirus is no longer a “global health emergency”.
– However, this does not mean that covid-19 no longer poses a global health threat. Last week, covid-19 claimed a life every three minutes, and those are the only deaths we know about. As we speak, thousands of people around the world are fighting for their lives in intensive care units, says the WHO director.
On Wednesday, the WHO presented a new strategy for the fight against covid-19 for the next two years. The goal of the strategy is to support countries in the transition from acute measures against the virus to long-term prevention and management of the disease.
Recently, the WHO also announced that the number of deaths from covid-19 has decreased by 95 percent since the turn of the year, writes AFP.