The World Health Organization [WHO] announced today [May 5] that they have determined that “Covid-19 is now an established and ongoing health issue which no longer constitutes a public health emergency of international concern.”
The statement comes three years after the WHO first declared its highest level of alert over the virus.
The official WHO website said, “The WHO Director-General has the pleasure of transmitting the Report of the fifteenth meeting of the International Health Regulations [2005] [IHR] Emergency Committee regarding the coronavirus 2019 disease [Covid-19] pandemic, held on Thursday 4 May 2023, from 12:00 to 17:00 CET.
“During the deliberative session, the Committee members highlighted the decreasing trend in Covid-19 deaths, the decline in Covid-19 related hospitalizations and intensive care unit admissions, and the high levels of population immunity to SARS-CoV-2. The Committee’s position has been evolving over the last several months.
“While acknowledging the remaining uncertainties posted by potential evolution of SARS-CoV-2, they advised that it is time to transition to long-term management of the Covid-19 pandemic.
“The WHO Director-General concurs with the advice offered by the Committee regarding the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. He determines that Covid-19 is now an established and ongoing health issue which no longer constitutes a public health emergency of international concern [PHEIC].”
“The Committee considered the three criteria of a PHEIC: whether COVID-19 continues to constitute 1) an extraordinary event, 2) a public health risk to other States through the international spread, and 3) potentially requires a coordinated international response. They discussed the current status of the COVID-19 pandemic. They acknowledged that, although SARS-CoV-2 has been and will continue circulating widely and evolving, it is no longer an unusual or unexpected event.”
