Pandemic emergencies grind to a halt

The World Health Organization (WHO) today declared an end to the emergency phase of the COVID-19 pandemic, days ahead of when a similar emergency in the United States is also set to expire. Both moves are likely to usher the world into a new phase of disease monitoring with a scaling back of surveillance and available resources to fight COVID-19. WHO’s director-general, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said at a press conference today in Geneva that WHO’s emergency committee met yesterday and recommended ending the Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC), the highest alert level WHO can declare, that has been in effect since 30 January 2020. “It’s therefore with great hope that I declare COVID-19 over as a global health emergency,” Tedros said. The pandemic had been on a downward trajectory for a year, Tedros said, allowing most countries to return to life as it was before COVID-19. “What this news means is that it is time for countries to transition from emergency mode to managing COVID-19 alongside other infectious diseases,” he said. Tedros emphasized that this declaration does not mean COVID-19 is no longer a threat. “The worst thing any country could do now is to use this news as a reason to let down its guard, to dismantle the systems it has built, or to send the message to its people that COVID-19 is nothing to worry about,” he said. Ending the PHEIC is the right move, says Lawrence Gostin, director of the O’Neill Inst...
Source: ScienceNOW - Category: Science Source Type: news