WHO director forecasts the end of the Covid-19 epidemic

The Covid-19 pandemic will no longer be considered a global health emergency by the end of this year, World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Tuesday. He noted that the weekly number of reported deaths is now lower than when the organization first used the word "pandemic" to describe the virus three years ago on March 11, 2020. Tedros stressed that while the pandemic may end this year, it is important to remember that nearly seven million lives lost to the virus and learn lessons from the outbreak. He outlined three main takeaways from the pandemic: the importance of public health, the importance of science and the dangers of politicizing issues like masks, vaccines and lockdowns, and the lack of cooperation and coordination on the part of the international community due to "narrow nationalism." To address these issues, the WHO has proposed a so-called 'pandemic accord' between nations to work together.