After more than three years, the World Health Organization terminated the global health emergency designation for Covid-19 Friday morning in a mostly symbolic motion as officials warned the removal of the designation doesn’t mean the public health threat is over.
LANDOVER, MARYLAND - MARCH 30: Healthcare professionals prepare to screen people for the coronavirus ... [+]
WHO ended the global “public health emergency of international concern” designation for Covid-19 after more than three years and 765 million reported cases and more than 6 million deaths.
Officials said the virus will continue to have waves and they will continue to track it as it evolves but “the crisis phase, the emergency phase is over.”
On May 11, the Covid-19 public health emergency—which allows the government flexibility and the ability to make emergency declarations and programs – will expire, and many other countries have already ended their emergency statutes and restrictions.
The WHO’s original emergency declaration was made on Jan. 30, 2020 when just 213 people were known to have died of the virus, the New York Times reported.
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director general of WHO, said: "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.”
W.H.O. Ends Global Health Emergency Designation for Covid (New York Times)
WHO says Covid-19 is no longer a global health emergency (CNN)