WHO declares end to Covid global health emergency

Covid is no longer a global public health emergency, the World Health Organization said Friday. The WHO issued the declaration more than three years ago, on Jan. 30, 2020.

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said he made the decision following a recommendation from the WHO’s emergency committee, which met on Thursday for the 15th time.

The WHO's designation of a "public health emergency of international concern" is reserved for the most serious disease outbreaks. 

The organization has assigned the label to seven outbreaks since 2007: monkeypox, Covid, Zika, H1N1 flu, polio and Ebola (which has twice been designated an emergency).

Globally, Covid deaths have fallen steadily over the last three months, from more than 41,000 weekly deaths at the start of January to around 3,500 on April 24, according to WHO data.

The U.S. is set to end its Covid public health emergency on Thursday. 

The designation has been in place since January 2020. President Joe Biden signed a resolution into law last month ending the country's Covid national emergency.