Covid no longer a global health emergency, says WHO

London: The World Health Organisation on Friday said that Covid-19 is no longer a global health emergency. The WHO's Emergency Committee met on Thursday to discuss declaring the end of the public health emergency of international concern.

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said: "It is therefore with great hope that I declare COVID-19 over as a global health emergency." He added that this does not mean that Covid-19 is over as a global health threat. "COVID has changed the world, and it has changed us. And that's the way it should be. If we go back to how things were before COVID-19, we will have failed to learn our lessons, and failed our future generations."

The global body also said that it is a major step towards the end of the pandemic that killed over 6.9 million people, disrupted the global economy, and ravaged communities.

The live media briefing was streamed on the official Twitter page of WHO.

"The worst thing any country could 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. What this news means is that it is time for countries to transition from emergency mode to managing Covid-19 alongside other infectious diseases," said the director general.

"I emphasise that this is not a snap decision. It is a decision that has been considered carefully for some time, planned for, and made on the basis of a careful analysis of the data. If need be, I will not hesitate to convene another Emergency Committee should Covid-19 once again put our world in peril," he added.

The UN body head further said: "While this Emergency Committee will now cease its work, it has sent a clear message that countries must not cease theirs. On the Committee’s advice, I have decided to use a provision in the International Health Regulations that has never been used before, to establish a Review Committee to develop long-term, standing recommendations for countries on how to manage Covid-19 on an ongoing basis."

He also thanked the emergency committee for the work done in the past three years.

"I would like to express my deep gratitude to all the members of the Emergency Committee for their thoughtful consideration and wise advice. I thank especially Professor Didier Houssin for his leadership as Chair over the past three years. He has led the committee with a calm demeanour and a steady hand through turbulent times," he said.

"I also wish to thank the incredible people who I have the privilege to call my colleagues. For more than 3 years, the people of WHO have laboured day and night, under intense pressure and intense scrutiny. They have brought together partners and experts from around the world to generate evidence, study, and translate it into guidance and actions for the world," he added.

"In countries around the world, WHO has worked closely with governments to translate that guidance into policies and actions to save lives. My colleagues have worked tirelessly to get vaccines and other supplies to more people faster. And they have countered mis- and disinformation with accurate and reliable information," he further said.

He asserted that it is a moment of celebration as well as reflection. "Covid has left – and continues to leave – deep scars on our world. Those scars must serve as a permanent reminder of the potential for new viruses to emerge, with devastating consequences. As a global community, the suffering we have endured, the painful lessons we have learned, the investments we have made and the capacities we have built must not go to waste. We owe it to those we have lost to leverage those investments; to build on those capacities; to learn those lessons, and to transform that suffering into meaningful and lasting change."