{"id":35267,"date":"2023-05-06T02:04:39","date_gmt":"2023-05-05T20:34:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/?p=35267"},"modified":"2025-04-20T23:15:30","modified_gmt":"2025-04-20T17:45:30","slug":"covid-is-no-longer-an-emergency","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/covid-is-no-longer-an-emergency\/","title":{"rendered":"COVID Is No Longer an Emergency"},"content":{"rendered":"<h3><strong>What\u2019s in today\u2019s article?<\/strong><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Why in news?<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>When does a disease declared as the public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC)?<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>What does the PHEIC declaration mean?<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>News Summary: Covid is no longer an emergency<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Background:<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Why did the WHO declare Covid-19 a PHEIC?<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Why has the WHO removed the designation now?<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>How will the WHO declaration change disease management?<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<h2><strong>Why in news?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>The World Health Organisation (WHO) said that Covid-19 was no longer a Public Health Emergency of International Concern.<\/li>\n<li>As per the WHO, the focus would now be on the long-term management of the infection.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<h2><strong>Conflict Between North and South Korea<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Since the beginning of the 20th century, Korea had been a part of the Japanese empire, and after World War II it fell to the Americans and the Soviets.\n<ul>\n<li>In other words, after WW II, USA and USSR were to decide what should be done with their enemy\u2019s (Japan\u2019s) imperial possessions.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>In August 1945, <strong>Korean peninsula was divided in half along the 38th parallel<\/strong>. The <u>Russians occupied the area north<\/u> of the line and the <u>United States occupied the area to its south<\/u>.<\/li>\n<li>In 1950, North Korea invaded South Korea, starting the <strong>three-year Korean War<\/strong>. As a result, American troops had entered the war on South Korea\u2019s behalf.\n<ul>\n<li>As far as American officials were concerned, it was a war against the forces of international communism itself.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>Finally, in July 1953, the Korean War came to an end by signing of the <strong>armistice agreement in 1953<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li>Since the signing of the armistice agreement, North and South Korea have been divided by a 4km wide demilitarised zone stretching 250km.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<h2><strong>When does a disease declared as the public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC)?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>A disease is declared as a PHEIC when it meets certain criteria established by the World Health Organization (WHO). The criteria are as follows:\n<ul>\n<li>The disease must be serious, sudden, unusual, or unexpected.<\/li>\n<li>There must be a significant risk of international spread.<\/li>\n<li>There must be a significant risk of international travel or trade restrictions.<\/li>\n<li>There must be a significant risk of interference with international public health measures.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>If a disease meets these criteria, the WHO Director-General may declare a PHEIC based on the advice of the Emergency Committee, a group of international experts in public health and other relevant fields.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>\u00a0<\/h2>\n<h2><strong>What does the PHEIC declaration mean?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>A PHEIC is the strongest global alert the WHO can formally make and, when it is declared, countries have a legal duty to respond quickly.<\/li>\n<li>It is a formal declaration by the WHO that:\n<ul>\n<li>a disease or health event constitutes a public health risk to other countries through the international spread of disease, and<\/li>\n<li>that a coordinated international response is required.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>When a PHEIC is declared, it allows the WHO to mobilize resources and coordinate the global response to the event.<\/li>\n<li>Examples of recent PHEIC declarations include the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo in 2019 and the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><strong>News Summary:<\/strong> <strong>Covid is no longer an emergency<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared that Covid-19 no longer represents a &#8220;global health emergency&#8221;.<\/li>\n<li>The statement represents a major step towards ending the pandemic and comes three years after it first declared its highest level of alert over the virus.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Background:<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>The novel viral infection came to light after China reported a cluster of pneumonia cases with no known cause from Wuhan on December 31, 2019.<\/li>\n<li>By the end of January 2020, nearly 10,000 cases had been reported, including more than 100 cases in 19 other countries.<\/li>\n<li>WHO raised its highest level of alert and termed the infection a Public Health Emergency of International Concern.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Why did the WHO declare Covid-19 a PHEIC?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>In 2020 and 2021, Covid-19 fulfilled all the conditions required for a disease to be declared as the public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC).\n<ul>\n<li>Globally, the number of infections has crossed 76.5 crore, and caused 69.2 lakh deaths.<\/li>\n<li>India has reported 4.43 crore cases and 5.3 lakh deaths due to Covid-19 so far.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Why has the WHO removed the designation now?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Nature of the virus known\n<ul>\n<li>Over the last three years, doctors and researchers have figured out a lot \u2014\n<ul>\n<li>methods of transmission;<\/li>\n<li>who are at highest risk of severe disease and death;<\/li>\n<li>better, cheaper, and point-of-care diagnostics;<\/li>\n<li>a treatment protocol that works;<\/li>\n<li>medicines to prevent viral replication that can help in reducing severity of the disease; and<\/li>\n<li>most importantly, vaccines that can prevent severe disease.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Healthcare systems improved<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>Governments have strengthened healthcare systems and rolled out vaccination drives.\n<ul>\n<li>Since many were infected and vaccinated, the population has developed a hybrid immunity that has been shown to offer better protection against future severe disease.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>Health systems are no longer stressed; focus is back on non-Covid conditions that were neglected during 2020 and 2021.<\/li>\n<li>So, for a good part of 2022 and now 2023 Covid-19 did not satisfy the three conditions for a disease to be a public health emergency.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>\u00a0<\/h2>\n<h2><strong>How will the WHO declaration change disease management?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Not much will change on ground<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>There are no lockdowns; international travel, restaurants, and cinemas are normal; and containment and control measures haven\u2019t been needed for some time now.<\/li>\n<li>So, not much will change on ground with the WHO declaration.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Reduced surveillance<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>At the moment, no practical impact to the common man, but surveillance may stop or reduce greatly.\n<ul>\n<li>There is need to look out only for variants that can be dangerous and disruptive.<\/li>\n<li>The focus of surveillance has to be on hospitalised cases and the variants causing it.<\/li>\n<li>Community level surveillance can be through waste-water and detection of clusters.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h3><strong>Q1) What is a Pandemic?<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>A pandemic is an outbreak of an infectious disease that spreads across multiple countries and continents, affecting a large number of people. The term &#8220;pandemic&#8221; is typically used to describe the worldwide spread of a disease, as opposed to an epidemic, which is more localized to a specific region or community. Pandemics can occur when a new strain of a virus or bacteria emerges, or when a previously contained disease becomes more virulent or resistant to treatment. Examples of pandemics in recent history include the COVID-19 pandemic, the H1N1 influenza pandemic of 2009, and the Spanish flu pandemic of 1918.<\/p>\n<p><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<h3><strong>Q2)\u00a0What is World Health Organization (WHO)?<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>The World Health Organization (WHO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) responsible for promoting and protecting public health worldwide. Established in 1948, the WHO&#8217;s primary objective is to provide leadership on global health matters, set health priorities, and provide technical support to countries to achieve better health outcomes.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><strong>Source:\u00a0<\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/indianexpress.com\/article\/explained\/explained-health\/covid-is-no-longer-an-emergency-what-changes-8594125\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><u>Covid is no longer an emergency: what changes?<\/u><\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.who.int\/news\/item\/05-05-2023-statement-on-the-fifteenth-meeting-of-the-international-health-regulations-(2005)-emergency-committee-regarding-the-coronavirus-disease-(covid-19)-pandemic?adgroupsurvey=%7badgroupsurvey%7d&amp;gclid=Cj0KCQjw0tKiBhC6ARIsAAOXutkhUZoGzvqzA188XqzLY-OZ5q23BR1hflpi5uxFDRT-nsLXOACTaLsaAkCoEALw_wcB\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><u>WHO<\/u><\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/edition.cnn.com\/2023\/05\/05\/health\/who-ends-covid-health-emergency\/index.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><u>CNN Health<\/u><\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/health-65499929\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><u>BBC<\/u><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>COVID-19 is a highly contagious respiratory illness caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":35268,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-35267","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-upsc-mains-current-affairs","8":"no-featured-image-padding"},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35267","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35267"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35267\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/35268"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35267"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35267"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35267"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}