The official word on COVID-19, according to the World Health Organization and the U.S. government, is that it’s no longer an emergency. But while that’s a milestone, it’s hardly an all-clear for everyone to behave as if the pandemic never happened, experts say.
“It doesn’t mean there’s no risk for anyone,” said Dr. Preeti Malani, an infectious disease physician at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. “But it does mean that we are at a very different point than we were when the emergency was declared more than three years ago.”
The WHO first declared “a public health emergency of international concern” on Jan. 30, 2020, when just 213 people were known to have died from COVID-19, a number that has since grown to nearly 7 million deaths globally. The alert required nations to track and report cases. WHO ended that declaration May 5.
Read this story now for free
To continue reading, sign up for our newsletter and get unlimited access to WABE.org
You can select your preferences for news and local content. We will never share your email address. Learn how your newsletter sign-up will support WABE and Public Media
