PANDEMIC EASES

WHO: COVID-19 no longer a ‘global health emergency’

RALPH NUÑEZ

After three years of the pandemic, the World Health Organization (WHO) has officially declared that COVID-19 is no longer a global health emergency on Friday, May 5.

WHO’s Director-General, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that the pandemic has been going on a downward trend for more than a year now.

“Yesterday, the emergency committee met for the 15th time and recommended to me that I declare an end to the public health emergency of international concern. I have accepted that advice,” Tedros said.

The COVID-19 death rate has dropped from more than 100,000 deaths per week at its peak to 3,500 during the third week of April 2023 due to accessible vaccinations and availability of treatments being more globally accessible.

However, WHO officials emphasized that COVID-19 will be here to stay, and will remain a global health threat.

“COVID-19 has left — and continues to leave — deep scars on our world. Those scars must serve as a permanent reminder of the potential for new viruses to emerge with devastating consequences,” Tedros added.

The WHO has also published a report to countries this week on how to live and adapt to COVID-19 long-term.

NUÑEZ

Badrina said that high temperatures would be evident in Metro Manila and the rest of the country, adding that PAGASA does not expect a tropical cyclone in the next few days.

“We don’t monitor any low-pressure area or possible tropical cyclones in the next few days. For this week, there is a small chance that we will have a typhoon,” Badrina mentioned.

Other locations that logged a dangerous heat index were Agusan

Source: LPSci Survey, 2023

AChinese fishing vessel capsized last week in the Indian Ocean carrying 39 passengers, among whom were five Filipino seafarers.

The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) spokesperson, Rear Adm. Armand Balilo, disclosed in a statement released on Wednesday that the international search did not find any signs of survivors after the extensive search spanning 64,000 square kilometers of area.

It was decided that the crew, consisting of 17 Chinese, 17 Indonesians, and five Filipinos, was presumed dead by the Chinese transport ministry.

The vessel capsized within the Australian search-and-rescue region, 5,000 kilometers from the state capital, Perth. Australia had