The news of the declaration of the end of the COVID emergency It is everywhere —and it is not for less, this May 5, 2023 became a historic day—, but with more calm, what do you think if we see what it means that the WHO has declared the end of the global emergency by COVID-19?
Because it is not the same to say that the global COVID emergency is over a “there is no longer COVID”.
What does it mean that the WHO declared the end of the global emergency by COVID?
In order to grasp the importance of this declaration you have to go back a few years until you reach January 2020when the WHO published… this emergency.
Public Health Emergency of International Concern or Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC).
That time, the World Health Organization decided to make this declaration when it saw that this coronavirus —which they had not yet given a name— represented a risk for more than one country.
And because the outbreaks identified in Wuhan required coordinated international responses.
That is to say, we were facing an unusual situation that represented a risk for everyone.
3 years later
already with vaccines, the development of measures to mitigate infections and a little more information on COVID-19, after 3 years of pandemic, the WHO decided to end this declaration.
So what does it mean that the WHO has declared the end of the global emergency for COVID-19?
Precisely, not being faced with an unusual situation and now have a little more information about COVID, the status of “emergency” I had to change and start managing care for this disease as is often the case with other infectious diseases.
But yes, COVID stays
“This virus is here to stay. Keep killing and keep changing. The risk of new variants emerging causing further increases in cases and deaths remains.”.
These are the words of the director of the WHO Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus to remind us that even without the declaration of a global emergency, COVID continues and will continue among us.
It is a virus that is here to stay and that the worst thing a country could do is lower its guard.
Dismantle containment and mitigation networks or send the wrong message to the population that COVID is no longer a threat —The risks continue there, for example with the development of variants.
The reflection of the WHO
In this regard, the director of the WHO mentioned that everything we saw in the pandemic did not have to be like this… but now, with this experience, the world is reinforcing the tools and technology to prepare for upcoming pandemics, detect them earlier, respond faster and mitigate its impact.
and if well the whole world (including China) has recovered its economic and social activitiesthe fact that we did not rejoin in the same way remains as a reflection.
The consequences of COVID have been so many —impact on mental health, on economies, for example— that the challenge for each government is to address and attend to them.
Lastly, in its report, the WHO did not forget the work of medical personnel who have been on the front line of the battle against COVID.
And he reminded us that this virus has left 765 million diagnoses, 6.9 million deaths, although the WHO estimated that these data fall short and that the deaths could reach 20 million people.
