The World Health Organization has declared an end to covid-19’s designation as a public health emergency of international concern, saying the pandemic is on a “downward trend”
By Madeleine Cuff
5 May 2023
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of the WHO, at a press briefing
Xinhua/Shutterstock
Covid-19 is “no longer a global health emergency” in the view of the World Health Organization (WHO), which has downgraded the threat level posed by the coronavirus following three years at the highest state of alert.
Speaking at a news conference on 5 May, WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the pandemic has been on a “downward trend” for more than a year, with population immunity increasing due to vaccinations and infections, leading to reduced mortality and an easing of pressure on health services. “This trend has allowed most countries to return to life as we knew it before covid-19,” he said.
“Yesterday, the emergency committee met for the 15th time and recommended to me that I declare an end to the public health emergency of international concern [PHEIC],” he added. “I have accepted that advice”.
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Covid-19 was declared a PHEIC on 30 January 2020, after the initial outbreak of the virus in China in December 2019 had spread to 18 other countries.
It is the highest alarm the WHO can sound of a global threat to public health, with such events deemed to be extraordinary, to constitute an international public health threat and to require a coordinated international response.
Ending the PHEIC declaration is a major symbolic step towards the end of the pandemic. It also means that countries are no longer obliged to share health data with the WHO.