WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus declared that Covid-19 is no longer a "global health emergency." He added that this means it is time for countries to transition from "emergency mode" to managing Covid-19 alongside other infectious diseases.
However, he cautioned that this does not mean Covid-19 is over as a global health threat.
He also said that "the worst thing" any country could do at the moment is to let its guard down, dismantle the systems it has built, or tell its people that Covid-19 is nothing to worry about.
Ghebreyesus highlighted that while seven million Covid-19 deaths have been reported to the WHO, the death toll is likely to be at least 20 million.