World Health Organization

WHO says COVID-19 remains a global health emergency

Reuters
WHO says COVID-19 remains a global health emergency

A woman takes a coronavirus disease (COVID-19) test at a pop-up testing site in New York City, U.S., July 11, 2022.

REUTERS/Brendan McDermid

The Emergency Committee of the World Health Organization says that rising cases, ongoing viral evolution, and pressure on health services in a number of countries means that the situation was still an emergency

LONDON, United Kingdom – The World Health Organization said on Tuesday, July 12, that COVID-19 remains a global emergency, nearly 2-1/2 years after it was first declared.

The Emergency Committee, made up of independent experts, said in a statement that rising cases, ongoing viral evolution and pressure on health services in a number of countries meant
that the situation was still an emergency.

Cases reported to WHO had risen by 30% in the last fortnight, the statement said, although the committee accepted that increased population immunity, largely from vaccines, had seen a “decoupling” of cases from hospitalizations and deaths.

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus accepted the committee’s advice.

The UN health agency first declared the highest level of alert, known as a Public Health Emergency of International Concern, for COVID-19 on January 30, 2020. Such a determination can help accelerate research, funding and international public health measures to contain a disease. – Rappler.com

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