Local

World Heath Organization Emergency Committee advises COVID-19 pandemic still public health emergency

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The World Health Organization Emergency Committee advised the COVID-19 pandemic remains a public health emergency in a statement released Monday.

Some thought the WHO might have declared an end to the pandemic after nearly three years. Action News Jax spoke with a doctor at UF Health.

“When they declare the pandemic over, it doesn’t mean that there is not still a risk,” said UF Health Doctor Chad Neilsen.

Neilsen weighed in on what a possible end of the pandemic could mean.

“They are looking at things like treatments, vaccines, the ability for health care systems across the world to overcome this,” said Neilsen.

The World Health Organization’s Emergency Committee agreed that COVID-19 remains a dangerous, infectious disease, according to a statement released Monday by the WHO.

The committee issued seven key recommendations to WHO member states- some of which include vaccines, boosters, improving data, and increasing the long-term availability of covid-19 vaccines.

”Never before have we had so many different vaccines and treatment options arise so quickly to combat a novel disease,” said Neilsen.

I checked the WHO COVID-19 dashboard- over the course of the pandemic, there were about 100 million confirmed covid cases in the U.S., with about one million deaths.

”We know that variants continue to emerge across the world, and we know that people are still across the world and even here in the United States continuing to die from a primary infection due to COVID-19. We will continue to treat those patients and prepare ourselves in case a variant changes,” said Neilsen.

[SIGN UP: Action News Jax Daily Headlines Newsletter]

Click here to download the free Action News Jax news and weather apps, click here to download the Action News Jax Now app for your smart TV and click here to stream Action News Jax live.