{"id":269527,"date":"2023-05-12T16:48:38","date_gmt":"2023-05-12T20:48:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/?p=269527"},"modified":"2023-05-12T16:48:38","modified_gmt":"2023-05-12T20:48:38","slug":"end-of-covid-19-health-emergency-balance-of-millenniums-biggest-disaster","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/styles-trends\/healthy-life\/end-of-covid-19-health-emergency-balance-of-millenniums-biggest-disaster\/","title":{"rendered":"End of COVID-19 health emergency: balance of millennium\u2019s biggest disaster"},"content":{"rendered":"

On May 5, the WHO Emergency Committee <\/span>declared<\/b><\/a>\u00a0that the coronavirus health emergency, which began on January 30, 2020, was coming to an end. In the announcement, the director general of the UN agency recalled that, 1,221 days ago, the Organization was notified of a cluster of cases of pneumonia of unknown cause in Wuhan, China.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cOn January 30, 2020, on the advice of an Emergency Committee convened under the International Health Regulations, I declared a public health emergency of international concern due to the global outbreak of COVID-19, the highest level of alarm under international law,\u201d Dr. Tedros Adhanom Gebreyesus said in the statement.<\/span><\/p>\n

At that time of uncertainty, fewer than 100 cases and no deaths had been reported outside of China, Tedros noted, before commenting that \u201cin the three years since then, COVID-19 has turned our world upside down.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

In these three years, the WHO was notified of almost 7 million deaths from the coronavirus. Still, it is known that the real number of victims is higher: at least 20 million, according to the data that the organization itself manages. In addition to the deaths, Dr. Tedros recalled that health systems have been seriously affected and millions of people were unable to access essential health services due to high demand.<\/span><\/p>\n

The leader commented that, for more than a year, the pandemic has followed a downward trend that \u201chas allowed most countries to return to the life they knew before COVID-19.\u201d In fact, since the beginning of the year, the number of reported infections and deaths from the disease has been decreasing globally: in the last week of April, the WHO confirmed 630,000 cases worldwide and 3,500 deaths, when in January it exceeded a million positive cases and 14,000 deaths, partly due to a wave of infections in China.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cYesterday, the <\/span>COVID-19<\/span><\/a> Emergency Committee met for the 15th time and recommended to me that I declare an end to the public health emergency of international concern. I have accepted that advice. With great hope I declare COVID-19 over as a global health emergency,\u201d he announced.<\/span><\/p>\n

A moment of celebration<\/b><\/p>\n

\u201cIt is a moment of celebration, achieved after the tireless work of millions of health workers, much innovation and research, difficult decisions made by governments and sacrifices that we have all had to make,\u201d Tedros <\/span>said<\/b><\/a>\u00a0in his recent statement.<\/span><\/p>\n

However, the representative assured that one of the worst parts of the COVID-19 tragedy is that it need not have been the way it was. He specified that the tools, technology and conditions exist to deal more efficiently with this type of situation and mitigate its impact.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe worst thing that countries could do now is use this news as an excuse to lower their guard, dismantle the systems they have built, or send the message to the population that there is no need to worry anymore,\u201d he warned. \u201cThousands of people around the world are fighting for their lives in intensive care units.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Much more than a health crisis<\/b><\/p>\n

As the director of the WHO expressed, the pandemic has been much more than a health crisis. Its impact on the different orders of life in countries has been enormous. Let\u2019s look at some of these repercussions:<\/span><\/p>\n

Economic impact: \u201cThe biggest crisis in more than a century\u201d<\/b><\/p>\n

According to a World Bank <\/span>report<\/b><\/a>\u00a0for 2022, the COVID-19 pandemic sent a shock wave through the entire world economy, triggering the biggest crisis in more than a century. This led to a drastic increase in inequality within and between countries.<\/span><\/p>\n

At the start of the pandemic, a determined response was launched through economic policies that, although it managed to mitigate the most severe human costs in the short term, gave rise to new risks, such as the sharp increase in private and public debt levels in the world economy, which affects the prospects for recovery, the report said.<\/span><\/p>\n

These impacts were especially severe in emerging economies, such as Cuba\u2019s, where income losses revealed and exacerbated certain factors of pre-existing economic fragility.<\/span><\/p>\n

The crisis had a drastic impact on poverty and inequality around the world. Global poverty increased for the first time in a generation. It is also estimated that between 75 and 95 million people <\/span>were<\/b><\/a>\u00a0pushed into poverty in these years. Earnings loss was also higher among youth, women, the self-employed, and casual workers with lower levels of formal education.<\/span><\/p>\n

Vulnerability to COVID-19: genetic code or zip code?<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n