The virus is actually endemic almost all over the planet. In Italy incidence and Rt are still decreasing but the obligation to test would remain for those coming from China. The World Health Organization: In China still too many dead. In three months new meeting
The China effect has not yet been seen. With the mass reopenings that inaugurated the zero Covid policy, after three years of strict lockdown, infections have risen exponentially in the Asian country, but the consequences have not been seen in the rest of the world as had been feared.
Even the World Health Organization (WHO) speaks of a better situation than a year ago, when the Omicron wave was at its peak and there were over 70,000 deaths a week. Nonetheless, the WHO, meeting on Friday to decide whether to declare the pandemic emergency over, decided to follow the line of prudence postponing the decision to three months from now. The reason is precisely the emergency in China which, with its almost one and a half billion inhabitants, is still recording a very high number of infections and deaths (albeit decreasing compared to the previous days), which cannot be underestimated.
The same Italian Minister of HealthOrazio Schillaci, said he was cautious about checks for those coming from China: We are thinking of postpone the obligation of swabs for Chinese passengers arriving in Italy until February 15 or at the end of February, for greater security, he said on the sidelines of a conference on Monday.
Deaths on the rise again (in China)
Last October, when the last meeting of the Emergency Committee was held, the number of deaths was the lowest since the beginning of the pandemic – recalls the WHO director general, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, at a press conference in Geneva —: less than 10 thousand a week. But d
at the beginning of December, deaths started to increase again: about 40,000 last week, more than half in China. In total, more than 170 thousand deaths have been recorded in the last 2 months. The current number is certainly higher, underlines the general manager, recalling that in many countries life-saving tools such as vaccines are not widespread among the population groups that need them most, many health systems are struggling to cope with Covid-19 and surveillance and case sequencing have declined dramatically in nearly the entire world. The Director General agreed with the opinion offered by the Committee regarding the ongoing pandemic and declares (this can be read in a note from the WHO dated 30 January) that the event continues to constitute a public health emergency of international concern. The Director-General confirms the Committee’s view that the pandemic is likely in a transition phase and appreciates the Committee’s advice to carefully approach this transition and mitigate potential negative consequences.
Low incidence in Italy
In Italy, as written, the latest weekly bulletin of the Istituto Superiore di Sanit reports that in our country the incidence rate dropped to 65 cases per 100,000 inhabitantsabout four times less than a month ago el‘Rt continues its downward trend by registering a 0.73below the epidemic threshold. Hospitalizations in medical and intensive care areas have also dropped to historic lows. The immune system of Italians therefore seems well armored thanks to the double immunity acquired from the vaccine and from the disease.
Three years ago the declaration of international emergency
It was the end of January 2020 when the WHO declared the coronavirus epidemic in China an international health emergency precisely on the recommendation of the Committee, which on Covid met for the first time on 22 and 23 January to analyze the threat posed by the new virus that was spreading rapidly from the Chinese epicenter. The emergency was declared on January 30, 2020.Three years after the very different situation, the virus is still circulating and continues to make victims, but mitigation measures, drugs and, above all, vaccines have changed the scenario.
The criteria for declaring an emergency
According to the International Health Regulations, a health emergency of international concern can be declared in response to a satisfying health event three criteria:the event serious, sudden, unexpected; has the potential to spread beyond borders; requires one r
coordinated international tax. The criteria for a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (Pheic), i.e. an official declaration of a public health emergency of international concern? Today Covid can still cause a serious illness, but it is no longer something sudden or unexpected. Borders have now been crossed, the disease is known worldwide and coordinated international responses are virtually abandoned. However, the Chinese situation has put a stop to WHO’s initial intentions to declare the Covid emergency over, which was discussed at the previous October meeting of the safety committee. The disease is now endemic, but not yet worldwide.
January 30, 2023 (change January 30, 2023 | 12:11)
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