The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared that Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is no longer a global health emergency.
Recall that the virus, first broke out in Wuhan City, Hubei Province, China in 2019 and killed over 6.9 million people globally.
The WHO Director-General, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, On Thursday, January 30, 2020, had declared the virus has a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) after nearly ten thousand cases were recorded.
Tedros speaking at a press conference on Friday, May 5, 2023 said: “COVID-19 has been so much more than a health crisis, disrupting economies, travel, shattering businesses and plunging millions into poverty.
“However, for more than a year the pandemic has been on a downward trend and this trend has allowed most countries to return to life as we knew it before COVID-19.
Therefore, with great hope, I declare COVID19 over as a global health emergency.”
He further, warned that the virus still posed a threat in developing countries that have not had access to vaccines.
