The World Health Organization's emergency committee, will vote today on whether to maintain the emergency designation. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director General of the WHO, gestures as he speaks to journalists during a press conference at the WHO headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, Wednesday, Dec. 14, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Martial Trezzini-Keystone via AP
OTTAWA – The World Health Organization will announce Monday whether it thinks COVID-19 still represents a global health emergency but Canada’s top doctor says regardless of what the international body decides, Canada’s response to the coronavirus will not change.
The WHO’s emergency committee, which was struck in 2020 when COVID-19 first emerged as a global health threat, will vote today on whether to maintain the emergency designation.
WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus will make the final call based on the advice the committee gives him.
He warned earlier this week that he remains concerned about the impact of the virus, noting there were 170,000 deaths from COVID-19 reported around the world in the last two months.
Canada’s chief public health officer Dr. Theresa Tam says the COVID-19 situation in Canada is fluctuating but relatively stable, with no evidence of a surge in cases anywhere.
Canadian data suggest hospitalizations are falling again after a brief increase over Christmas and in early January.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 27, 2023.
