WHO: Covid-19 outbreak is no longer a global emergency

Ghebreyesus made evaluations at the press conference held with the agenda of WHO Kovid-19 and global health problems.

Pointing out that Kovid-19 has turned life upside down in the last 3 years, Ghebreyesus stated that 7 million people died due to the epidemic, which was reported to WHO, but they knew that this figure was higher.

Ghebreyesus reminded that health systems have been seriously damaged due to Kovid-19 and millions of people are deprived of basic health services.

Emphasizing that Kovid-19 is much more than a health crisis, Ghebreyesus said, “Kovid-19 caused serious economic turmoil, disrupted travel and trade, closed businesses and plunged millions into poverty.” said.

Ghebreyesus also said that borders and schools were closed due to Kovid-19, people’s movements were restricted and millions of people were experiencing psychological problems.

Emphasizing that Kovid-19 has been in a downward trend for more than a year due to vaccination and increased immunity of people, Ghebreyesus stated that for this reason, many countries returned to life before Kovid-19.

“This decision does not mean that Kovid-19 has ended as a global health threat”

Ghebreyesus said, “Yesterday, the WHO Emergency Committee met for the 15th time and advised me to put an end to the public health emergency of international importance. I accepted this recommendation. I’m declaring it’s over as a health threat, but that doesn’t mean Kovid-19 is over as a global health threat. Last week, Covid-19 took a life every 3 minutes, and these were just deaths as we know it.” he said.

Stating that the virus is permanent and still continues to take lives, Ghebreyesus noted that the risk of new variants that may cause new increases in cases and deaths continues.

Emphasizing that the said decision was not taken suddenly, Ghebreyesus said, “This decision has been taken with careful thought, planning and careful analysis of the data for a while. If Kovid-19 threatens our world once again, I will not hesitate to convene another Emergency Committee.” he said.

According to WHO data, Kovid-19, which started in December 2019, caused approximately 7 million deaths. A total of 765 million 222 thousand 932 confirmed Kovid-19 cases were recorded worldwide.

Due to Kovid-19, it was declared a “public health emergency” by WHO on January 30, 2020.