WHO ends Covid-19 global health emergency after more than 3 years
The World Health Organisation has reminded people that the pandemic has not disappeared
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has lifted the “global health emergency” for the Covid-19 pandemic, which had been in force since January 30, 2020.
Doctors and health experts have stressed that this does not mean that the pandemic is over as there are still rolling waves of Covid all year round.
However, a reduction in serious cases has led the WHO to take the decision to downgrade the emergency level this Thursday May 4, during the fifteenth meeting of its emergency committee, which has been meeting quarterly for more than three years.
While at their previous meeting at the end of January the organisation decided to maintain the global health emergency status on the grounds that Covid is still “a dangerous infectious disease”, the fact that the northern hemisphere spent this winter with barely any restrictions and without the virus getting out of control prompted them to revise that decision.
The change in emergency level is unlikely to have any noticeable effect on the day-to-day lives of the vast majority of people.
Nonetheless, in Spain Covid-19 continues to be the most contagious notifiable disease and still presents a danger to public health.
There are some 200,000 deaths a year worldwide as a result of Covid, while many people still suffer from long Covid.
We cannot afford to be complacent about it, and people are being reminded to continue to get vaccinated to protect themselves and others, especially this winter in the global southern hemisphere.
In Spain, face masks are still mandatory in pharmacies, hospitals and doctors’ surgeries – the last remaining Covid restriction in the country – though it’s thought that this rule could be scrapped “soon”.
Image: WHO
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