Is COVID still a global health emergency? WHO will decide Friday

On Friday, the World Health Organization will declare whether COVID is still a public health emergency, three years after the organization first triggered the alarm. “It’s a very technical term that’s used for an international health emergency … that has the potential for global impact where you need more global co-ordination and communication.”Bogoch said the designation will eventually be lifted, but when it is, it doesn’t mean COVID will disappear. Last fall, the WHO’s International Health Regulations Emergency Committee met to review the state of the pandemic and determined that COVID continues to be a global health emergency. Razak said public health information campaigns have fallen off, as have outreach initiatives delivering vaccines to at-risk groups and neighbourhoods. “And part of that was achieved by really good public health messaging.