The World Health Organisation (WHO) has declared an end to Covid-19 as a public health emergency.
Development Diaries reports that the WHO Director-General, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, made the declaration on Friday following Thursday’s Emergency Committee meeting.
‘It is therefore with great hope that I declare Covid-19 over as a global health emergency’, he said, adding that the end of the emergency did not mean the virus was over as a global health threat.
It is understood that the Covid-19 death rate has slowed from a peak of more than 100,000 people per week in January 2021 to just over 3,500 in the week to 24 April, 2023, according to WHO data.
Ending the emergency could mean that international collaboration or funding efforts are also brought to an end or shift in focus.
‘The battle is not over. We still have weaknesses and those weaknesses that we still have in our system will be exposed by this virus or another virus. And it needs to be fixed’, WHO’s Emergencies Director, Michael Ryan, said.
In Africa, testing has dwindled, and people have largely stopped wearing masks.
Photo source: World Bank
