The COVID pandemic is no longer a public health emergency of international concern according to the WHO.
The decision was made during the fifteenth video-conference meeting of the Members and Advisors of the Emergency Committee on 4 May 2023 and announced the following day.
During the deliberative session, the Committee members highlighted the decreasing trend in COVID deaths, the decline in COVID related hospitalizations and ICU admissions, high levels of population immunity to SARS-CoV-2, and the observation that currently circulating variants do not appear to be associated with any increased severity.
WHO Director General, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, noted that the Committee’s position had been evolving over the last several months, and while they acknowledged the remaining uncertainties posed by the potential evolution of the virus, had advised that it was time for the international community to transition to the long-term management of COVID.
“Yesterday, the Emergency Committee met for the 15th time and recommended to me that I declare an end to the public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC). I’ve accepted that advice and it is therefore with great hope that I declare COVID over as a global health emergency,” Dr Ghebreyesus said.
“While the global risk assessment remains high, there is evidence of reducing risks to human health driven mainly by high population-level immunity from infection, vaccination, or both; consistent virulence of currently circulating SARS-CoV-2 Omicron sub-lineages compared to previously circulating Omicron sub-lineages; and improved clinical case management.
“These factors have contributed to a significant global decline in the weekly number of COVID related deaths, hospitalizations, and admissions to intensive care units since the beginning of the pandemic.
“Reaching the point where COVID can be considered as no longer constituting a PHEIC should be seen as accolade to international coordination and commitment to global health.”
Many nations have effectively enhanced their functional capacities, particularly related to emergency coordination, surveillance, clinical care, risk communications and communication engagement since the outbreak of the pandemic.
However, Dr Ghebreyesus also pointed out that even though the number of globally reported deaths and hospitalisations continued to decrease, the impact of pandemic fatigue on testing, vaccinations, and accurate reporting represented a serious challenge to effective monitoring.
“The worst thing any country can do now is to use this news as a reason to let down its guard, to dismantle the systems it has built, or to send the message to its people that COVID is nothing to worry about,” he said.
“As the pandemic enters its fourth-year surveillance has declined dramatically, and while weekly reported cases and deaths are at the lowest level since the pandemic began, millions continue to be infected or re-infected with SARS-CoV-2 and thousands of people are dying each week.”
The reduction in COVID’s status coincided with the release of the 2023-2025 COVID-19 Strategic Preparedness and Response Plan (SPRP), which outlined important actions for countries to consider when transitioning to long-term management of the condition – including collaborative surveillance, community protection, safe and scalable care, access to countermeasures, and emergency coordination.
The Director General also made seven temporary recommendations for all nations dealing with lingering infections, including:
- Sustain national capacity gains and prepare for future events
- Integrate COVID vaccination into life-course vaccination programs for all people in high priority groups
- Bring together information from diverse respiratory pathogen surveillance data sources to allow for a comprehensive situational awareness
- Prepare for medical countermeasures to be authorized within national regulatory frameworks to ensure long-term availability and supply
- Continue to work with communities and their leaders to achieve a strong, resilient, and inclusive risk communications and community engagement (RCCCE) and infodemic management programmes
- Continue to lift COVID international travel related health measures; and
- Continue to support research