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Covid-19 no longer represents a global health emergency, says WHO

The WHO's emergency committee first declared that Covid represented its highest level of alert more than three years ago, on Jan. 30 2020

The United States played a pivotal role in helping to create the WHO in 1948. Just over 70 years later, President Trump is withdrawing the country from the agency amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Martial Trezzini/EPA

Reuters London

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Covid-19 no longer represents a global health emergency, the World Health Organization said on Friday, a major step towards the end of the pandemic that has killed more than 6.9 million people, disrupted the global economy and ravaged communities.

The WHO's emergency committee first declared that Covid represented its highest level of alert more than three years ago, on Jan. 30 2020. The status helps focus international attention on a health threat, as well as bolstering collaboration on vaccines and treatments.

Lifting it is a sign of the progress the world has made in these areas, but Covid-19 is here to stay, the WHO has said, even if it no longer represents an emergency.
 

The death rate has slowed from a peak of more than 100,000 people per week in January 2021 to just over 3,500 in the week to April 24, according to WHO data.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

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First Published: May 05 2023 | 7:01 PM IST

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