THE Covid-19 pandemic that has imposed restrictions on global travel, trade and economic activities around the world for the past three years may end this year, World Health Organization Director General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said.
“I am confident that this year we will be able to say that Covid-19 is over as a public health emergency of international concern,” Ghebreyesus told reporters at a Geneva briefing on Friday.
According to WebMD, the weekly number of reported Covid deaths over a four-week period was lower than when WHO declared Covid a global pandemic three years ago.
“We are certainly in a much better position now than we have been at any time during the pandemic,” Ghebreyesus was quoted as saying.
WebMD stated that in the U.S., Covid-related statistics have gone up and down over the last three years as different strains of the virus dominate, but the numbers are now trending downward.
“The U.S. government is looking ahead to the official end of the pandemic,” WebMD stated. “The Biden administration says the two national emergency declarations dealing with the Covid-19 pandemic will end May 11. That means many services, such as free testing and vaccines, will no longer be available.”
The WHO said there have been more than 760 million cases of Covid in the world with more than 6.8 million Covid-related deaths. The United States has more cases (more than 102 million) and deaths (over 1.1 million) than any other nation, WebMD stated.
On Saipan, Covid-19 facilities established at the height of the pandemic are still in place but are no longer fully functional, Variety learned.
