(Posted 12th of May 2023)
www.ATCNews.org has, even before WHO very belatedly declared a global health emergency and pandemic, been giving updates on COVID19 as it reached the African continent and then spread across all countries and territories.
A few days ago has WHO declared that the global public health emergency has officially ended, and while the virus continues to spread, is no longer as deadly and aggressive as it has been during the height of the pandemic.
Said WHO in their statement:
Statement on the fifteenth meeting of the IHR (2005) Emergency Committee on the COVID-19 pandemic
The WHO Director-General has the pleasure of transmitting the Report of the fifteenth meeting of the International Health Regulations (2005) (IHR) Emergency Committee regarding the coronavirus 2019 disease (COVID-19) pandemic, held on Thursday 4 May 2023, from 12:00 to 17:00 CET.
During the deliberative session, the Committee members highlighted the decreasing trend in COVID-19 deaths, the decline in COVID-19 related hospitalizations and intensive care unit admissions, and the high levels of population immunity to SARS-CoV-2. The Committee’s position has been evolving over the last several months.While acknowledging the remaining uncertainties posted by potential evolution of SARS-CoV-2, they advised that it is time to transition to long-term management of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The WHO Director-General concurs with the advice offered by the Committee regarding the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. He determines that COVID-19 is now an established and ongoing health issue which no longer constitutes a public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC).
Therefore, and with immediate effect, will the update on C19 from Africa and for Africa be discontinued. Should new health threats on a global scale emerge will ATCNews report once again from Africa and for Africa.
We thank you all for the tremendous support you have been giving us and the massive read numbers this feature has generated over the past 28 months.
This update has been sponsored by #BrusselsAirlines, serving #Entebbe / #Uganda – #Bujumbura / #Burundi – #Kigali / #Rwanda in East Africa.
Global overview as of today, 12th of May 2023
688.183.172 Cases and 6.873.773 Deaths as of 12th May 2023
660.583.286 cases have recovered.
#Africa:
Total accumulated cases in Africa: 12.821.702
Total accumulated deaths in Africa: 258.750
