New Delhi: The World Health Organization (WHO) will decide this month whether the COVID-19 pandemic still represents a global emergency, a spokesman said on Tuesday (Jan 10, 2023). At a press briefing, WHO spokeswoman Carla Drysdale said the UN agency committee will decide on the coronavirus emergency on January 27, three years after it was first declared.
The emergency committee advises WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on whether the outbreak represents a so-called public health emergency of international concern, the UN agency’s highest level of alert.
The emergency designation helps international organizations prioritize funding and aid for research, vaccines, and treatments.
It is too early to declare the end of the emergency phase of the pandemic, according to several leading scientists and WHO advisors Rapid increase of infection in China,
As well as the risks to China, some global health figures have also warned that allowing the virus to spread domestically could give it room to mutate, potentially creating a new variant that could infect other countries. How has evolved when allowed to spread in areas.
It is noteworthy that in September last year, WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that “the end is in sight” for the pandemic. Two months later, he told reporters that he “hoped” for the state of emergency to end sometime next year.
However, with the current global pandemic situation, it is unlikely that the UN health body will declare that COVID-19 is not a global emergency.