Image: LISI NIESNER
The decision will probably be announced by the World Health Organization in Geneva on Monday at the earliest, according to WHO circles. According to a WHO spokeswoman, the virtual meeting of the Corona Emergency Committee first featured the presentation of current pandemic data and then the debate.
The session was not expected to end until Friday evening at the earliest. The committee then makes a recommendation to WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, who then independently makes a decision for or against repeal.
At the beginning of the meeting, Tedros pointed out that corona deaths are increasing, not least because of the lifting of the pandemic restrictions in China. Last week, almost 40,000 deaths from all over the world were reported to the WHO, more than half of them from China. Since the beginning of December, more than 170,000 people worldwide have died after being infected with Covid-19. But Tedros also emphasized that vaccines, medicines and corona tests save many lives.
The declaration of a state of emergency is the highest level of alert that WHO can impose. It does this when there are threats, so that governments and the public are roused and prepared. Neither the declaration nor the lifting of a state of emergency – officially “Public Health Emergency of International Concern” (PHEIC) – has any immediate consequences. Each country decides for itself how to manage its crisis.
Source: Nachrichten
