Coronavirus (Covid-19) is no longer considered a "global health emergency", the World Health Organisation (WHO) has declared. The statement made at the International Health Regulations Emergency Committee is a major step towards the end of the pandemic.
The statement comes three years after the body first declared its highest level of alert over the virus in 2020. WHO officials said the virus' death rate had dropped from a peak of more than 100,000 people per week in January 2021 to just over 3,500 on 24 April 2023.
According to the WHO's official coronavirus dashboard, nearly seven million people worldwide have died after contracting coronavirus with over 765 million confirmed cases.
