COVID-19 is no longer a public health emergency of international concern.
That’s according to the World Health Organization.
It believes countries can now manage the virus independently, along with other infectious diseases.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus says the pandemic has been on a downward trend for more than a year.
But South African health officials are urging us to remain vigilant.
The NICD’s Professor Adrian Puren warns that the novel coronavirus is still spreading.
”I think the decision is a difficult one for WHO, it’s easy from a country’s perspective,” he said.
“What they mean is the emergency is over, now we need to move to a transitional phase.
“The pandemic is not over, it’s just behaving differently.”