The head of the World Health Organization (WHO), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said Wednesday that he is “hopeful” that the Covid-19 is no longer considered a world emergency sometime next year.
Tedros made the comments at a briefing with reporters just as China dismantles its rigid “zero-COVID” policy and allows people to live with the virus, raising fears of a surge in infections in the world’s second-largest economy.
An organism of the WHO meets every few months to decide whether the new coronavirus, which emerged three years ago in the Chinese city of wuhan and has killed more than 6.6 million people, it still represents a “public health emergency of international concern.”
The designation is intended to trigger a coordinated international response and unlock funds to help share vaccines and treatments.
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