Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Covid-19 no longer a global health emergency, WHO declares

It doesn’t mean Covid is over, warns Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus

Emily Atkinson
Saturday 06 May 2023 10:16 BST
Comments
Related video: What is the new Arcturus Covid variant causing a surge in cases?

Covid-19 no longer represents a global emergency, the World Health Organisation (WHO) declared on Friday. The announcement represents a symbolic step towards the end of a pandemic that has taken more than 6.9 million lives and disrupted billions of others.

It comes more than three years after the WHO raised the alert level to its highest, on 30 January 2020.

Lowering it demonstrates the extent of international progress on vaccines and treatments, but Covid-19 is here to stay, the organisation warned.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in