WHO Decides to Maintain COVID-19 Public Health Emergency Status (Update)

[Asia Economy Reporter Kwon Haeyoung] The World Health Organization (WHO) maintained the international public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC) related to COVID-19 on the 30th (local time).

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus stated that he agreed with the recommendation of the WHO International Health Emergency Committee that the current situation of COVID-19 still meets the criteria for maintaining the PHEIC. He said, "I acknowledge the Emergency Committee's view that the COVID-19 pandemic is at a turning point," and added, "I appreciate the Emergency Committee's advice to cautiously navigate the situation while mitigating potential negative impacts that may arise in the future."

Accordingly, the same level of alert has continued for more than three years since WHO declared the PHEIC for COVID-19 in January 2020.

PHEIC is the highest level of public health alert that WHO can issue. When an outbreak of a specific disease is declared a PHEIC, WHO can strongly promote various research, funding, and international health measures to suppress it.

If the PHEIC for COVID-19 had been lifted, countries around the world would likely have eased their quarantine and response measures. However, with WHO's decision to maintain the PHEIC, significant changes to existing quarantine response systems such as entry and exit screenings and isolation periods for confirmed cases are not expected.

Furthermore, WHO introduced the current quarantine status of various countries related to COVID-19 and urged transparent information disclosure. China has been criticized for not properly disclosing related information to the international community despite the rapid spread of infections after easing COVID-19 lockdown measures at the end of last year.

WHO pointed out, "Subvariants of the COVID-19 virus continue worldwide, and in some regions, influenza and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) have appeared early, placing a heavy burden on healthcare systems," adding, "Subvariants of COVID-19 are spreading and evolving uncontrolled, and data submitted by countries such as mortality rates, hospitalization rates, and sequencing results are decreasing." It emphasized, "Timely data sharing is crucial to respond to the pandemic."