The World Health Organization (WHO) announced that COVID-19 no longer represents a global health emergency, considering that the pandemic, which left "at least 20 million" dead in the world, is sufficiently controlled.
Its director Tedros Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus did so on May 5, after the recommendation of the WHO Emergency Committee, which had met the day before for the fifteenth time with this proposal.
"With great hope I declare that Covid-19 is no longer a health emergency of international reach," said the director general of the health organization, estimating that the pandemic left "at least 20 million" dead, almost three times more than the official balance sheet of your organization.
Lifting the measure is a sign of the progress the world has made in these areas, but COVID-19 is here to stay, the WHO warned. The difference today is that it no longer represents an emergency.
This committee had first declared that COVID-19 had reached its highest alert level more than three years ago, on January 30, 2020. The status helps focus international attention on a health threat, as well as reinforce collaboration on vaccines and treatments.
According to WHO data, the death rate fell from a peak of more than 100,000 people per week in January 2021 to just over 3,500 in the week to April 24.
