COVID-19 global health emergency will hopefully end next year, WHO chief says. But ‘the burden of post-COVID condition is only likely to increase’

(Credit: Fabrice Coffrini—AFP/Getty Images)

The World Health Organization is hopeful that COVID-19 will no longer be a global health emergency as of next year, the organization’s chief said Wednesday.

The criteria for ending the emergency status will be discussed when the WHO’s COVID-19 emergency committee meets in January, Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said at a press conference in Geneva.