Cape Town - The Covid-19 pandemic is not over, the national Department of Health cautioned, after the World Health Organization (WHO) declared that Covid-19 was no longer a public health emergency of international concern.
During the fifteenth meeting of the International Health Regulations Emergency Committee regarding the pandemic on Thursday, they noted decreasing trends in Covid-19 deaths, hospitalisations, as well as the high levels of population immunity to SARS-CoV-2.
“It’s with great hope that I declare Covid-19 over as a global health emergency.
“What this news means is that it’s time for countries to transition from emergency mode to managing Covid-19, alongside other infectious diseases.
“I emphasise that this is not a snap decision. It is a decision that has been considered carefully for some time, planned for, and made on the basis of a careful analysis of the data. If need be, I will not hesitate to convene another emergency committee should Covid-19 once again put our world in peril,” the WHO director-general, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said.
In South Africa, Health Department spokesperson, Foster Mohale, said it was important to clarify that this did not mean the pandemic was over.
“The fact of the matter is, the pandemic remains an important cause of morbidity and mortality especially in high-risk populations such as the elderly and people living with co-mobidities.
“The number of cases is far lower at the current moment than during the height of the pandemic, hence it is no longer viewed as a public health emergency,” he said.
The department said in line with WHO recommendations, it continued to recommend vaccination and would continue to offer services aimed at preventing and treating Covid-19, including vaccination services.
Cape Times