It ain’t over

By Artchil B. Fernandez

Global Covid-19 emergency has ended, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced late last week. The announcement came more than three years after the United Nations (UN) health body on January 30, 2020 declared a global emergency status for Covid-19.

At that time of the declaration less than 100 cases of infection was found outside China. A public health emergency of international concern is the highest level of alert. The alert status brings into focus international attention on a health threat and bolsters global collaboration on vaccines and treatments. WHO’s Emergency Committee met last week and recommended an end to the corona virus crisis as a “public health emergency of international concern.”

“It is therefore with great hope that I declare Covid-19 over as a global health emergency,” said WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. “In the three years since then, Covid-19 has turned our world upside down. Almost 7 million deaths have been reported to WHO, but we know the toll is several times higher—at least 20 million,” Ghebreyesus added. He also acknowledged the tremendous impact of the health crisis on social life.

“But Covid-19 has been so much more than a health crisis,” WHO chief reminded the world. “It has caused severe economic upheaval, erasing trillions from GDP, disrupting travel and trade, shuttering businesses, and plunging millions into poverty…  Covid-19 has changed the world, and it has changed us. And that’s the way it should be. If we go back to how things were before Covid-19, we will have failed to learn our lessons, and failed our future generations,” Ghebreyesus continued.

The health toll of Covid-19 pandemic is staggering. So far more than 765 million people were infected by the virus and nearly 7 million of them died. But the number of deaths could be tripled than the official figure estimate health experts who have compared the number of excess deaths worldwide since 2020 to the pre-pandemic figures. For 2020 and 2021, nearly 15 million excess deaths were due to Covid-19, according to them.

WHO however cautioned everyone from prematurely assuming the pandemic is over. It is not yet a time for rejoicing. It ain’t over. What WHO declared is an end to the “global health emergency” on Covid-19 but not an end to the threat of the virus and its dangers.

“The worst thing any country could do now is to use this news as a reason to let down its guard, to dismantle the systems it has built, or to send the message to its people that Covid-19 is nothing to worry about,” WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus warned.

“The battle is not over,” counseled WHO’s emergencies director Michael Ryan. “We still have weaknesses and those weaknesses that we still have in our system will be exposed by this virus or another virus. And it needs to be fixed.”

Covid-19 “is still a significant public health problem and looks likely to remain one for the foreseeable future,” according to Mark Woolhouse, an epidemiologist at the University of Edinburgh. “No one should take (the end of global health emergency) to mean Covid-19 is no longer a problem,” he further advised.

To illustrate that Covid-19 is still around OCTA Research reported that Philippines’ Covid-19 positivity rate increased at the time of WHO announcement.

OCTA Research fellow Guido David said 1,878 new COVID-19 cases were recorded by the Department of Health (DOH) on May 6 which was higher than the 1,563 logged the day before. The number of fresh infection on May 6, 2030 drove positivity rate to rise to 19.3 percent from 17.8 percent on May 5.  On May 7, the positivity rate further went up to 22.9 percent. The DOH said daily infection numbers as of May 1 to 7 are already double their projected range of 289 to 611 daily infections.

The Covid-19 virus is still on rampage and continues to mutate proving it remains a dangerous health threat.  Omicron variant which emerged in 2021 keeps on producing subvariants. Infections of latest Omicron subvariant XBB.1.16 is raising in several countries. This subvariant shows that the virus is evolving and remains lethal.

Health experts warn that Covid-19 virus through its subvariants demonstrates it could still mutate into deadlier and more transmissible variants. It will be a deadly mistake to lower our guard and presume the danger is over.

While the declaration ending the global health emergency on Covid-19 by WHO is a welcome development and an indication that the situation has greatly improved it should not lull people into complacency. Covid-19 pandemic is winding down but it has not come to a final end. The virus remains active and can kill people.

To protect oneself from the Covid-19, it is urgent that people must follow the minimum health protocol. Wearing of mask is the simplest and the easiest way to insulate oneself from the virus. While Filipinos have aversion to mandatory mask mandate, latest SWS survey reveals 91 percent of Filipinos approve of the executive order allowing voluntary wearing of face masks. Majority (54 percent) of Filipinos said they “always” wear mask and another 22 percent admitted they wear mask “most of the time.” Only 8 percent reported they “rarely” wear mask and only 1 percent said they “never” wear it.

In a time when things are returning to normal, people must remain conscious that the scourge of Covid-19 is still very much around. Everyone must take precaution.