WHO Calls COVID-19 Still A Global Health Emergency, Influence World Population

JAKARTA - The World Health Organization (WHO) said COVID-19 remained a global emergency on Wednesday, nearly three years after it was first declared an emergency.

The WHO emergency committee first made a declaration for COVID-19 on January 30, 2020. Such declarations could help accelerate research, funding, and international public health measures to address a disease.

The UN agency said in recent months, although cases have declined in some parts of the world, countries still need to maintain vigilance and encourage the most vulnerable population to be vaccinated.

"Although the public perception is that the pandemic has ended in some parts of the world, it remains a public health event that continues to have a bad impact and greatly affects the health of the world's population," the WHO committee said.

Mentioned, although the current weekly death toll is the lowest since the pandemic began, this figure remains high compared to other viruses.

"This pandemic has shocked us before and perhaps once again," WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told reporters.