The World Health Organization has predicted that COVID‑19 will cease to be a public health emergency in 2023. Dr Tedros Ghebreyesus, the WHO Director‑General, announced this at a virtual media briefing on Friday. COVID‑19 was declared a public health emergency of international concern on 30 January 2020, when fewer than 100 cases had been reported outside China and no deaths had occurred outside the country. This designation represents the highest level of alarm that WHO can issue under international law.
During the briefing, Dr Ghebreyesus noted that almost seven million COVID‑19 deaths have been reported, although the true toll is likely much higher. “We are certainly in a much better position now than at any time during the pandemic,” he said. “It is very pleasing to see that, for the first time, the weekly number of reported deaths over the past four weeks is lower than when we first used the word ‘pandemic’ three years ago.” He expressed confidence that this year WHO will be able to declare COVID‑19 over as a public health emergency of international concern. However, he cautioned that the situation is not yet resolved; last week more than 5,000 deaths were still reported—“five thousand too many for a disease that can be prevented and treated.”
Dr Ghebreyesus also addressed the unresolved question of the virus’s origins, urging China to be transparent in sharing data. He referred to information posted on the GISAID database in late January, which was later removed. The data, supplied by the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, pertained to samples collected at Wuhan’s Huanan market in 2020. While the data were online, scientists from several countries downloaded and analyzed it. “As soon as we became aware of this data, we contacted the Chinese CDC and urged them to share it with WHO and the international scientific community for analysis,” he said. The WHO convened the Scientific Advisory Group for the Origins of Novel Pathogens (SAGO), which met on Tuesday to review the findings presented by Chinese and international researchers.
Although the data do not provide a definitive answer to how the pandemic began, Dr Ghebreyesus emphasized that every piece of information brings us closer to that answer. “Every piece of data relating to studying the origins of COVID‑19 needs to be shared with the international community immediately. These data could—and should—have been shared three years ago,” he asserted. He reiterated the call for China to be transparent, to conduct necessary investigations, and to share the results. Understanding the pandemic’s origins, he concluded, remains both a moral and scientific imperative.
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