Covid-19 could become threat similar to flu in 2023: WHO

The pandemic phase of deadly Covid-19, which rattled the global economy and took over 68 lakh lives worldwide, coming to an end, according to the World Health Organization.

"I think we're coming to that point where we can look at Covid-19 in the same way we look at seasonal influenza," AFP quoted the WHO emergencies director Michael Ryan as saying at a press conference on Friday.

"A threat to health, a virus that will continue to kill. But a virus that is not disrupting our society or disrupting our hospital systems, and I believe that that will come, as Tedros said, this year," he stated.

The Covid-19 allegedly orignated from a lab in Wuhan in China although Beijing has denied it. There have been several studies and investigations conducted to try to identify the exact origins of the virus. The first cases of COVID-19 were reported in December 2019 in Wuhan, China, and the initial outbreak was linked to a seafood market in the city.

However, the world is in a better situation since the pandemic broke out in 2020.

"I am confident that this year we will be able to say that Covid-19 is over as a public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC)," he said. Ryan claimed, "We declared a global health emergency to spur countries to take decisive action, but not all countries did,"

"Three years later, there are almost seven million reported deaths from Covid-19, although we know that the actual number of deaths is much higher."

The WHO official further stated that the weekly number of reported deaths over the past four weeks has been lower than when he first described Covid-19 as a pandemic, AFP reported.

Meanwhile, the Centre has written to six states -- Maharashtra, Gujarat, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Karnataka -- to follow a risk assessment-based approach to prevent and contain the spread of COVID-19 infections, citing a possible localised spread of the virus.

Bhushan advised these states to examine the situation of COVID-19 at micro-level and maintain focus on implementation of necessary measures for prompt and effective management of the disease, duly ensuring effective compliance with various advisories issued by the Ministry of Health.

Asking the states to keep a strict watch, he mentioned that India has observed a significant decline in the number of COVID-19 cases during the past few months.

However, since the past few weeks a rise in cases has been noted specifically in certain parts of the country with a total of 2,082 cases being reported in the week ending March 8 and the figure rising to 3,264 cases in the week ending March 15.

With inputs from agencies