The New Crown outbreak will continue to be a "public health emergency (PHEIC)" of international concern - so says the World Health Organization (WHO) today, on the third anniversary of the PHEIC status of New Crown.

The statement said it was the result of discussions at the 14th Emergency Committee meeting on the New Crown epidemic held on January 27. The committee concluded that the new pandemic may be at a "transition point. The public believes that the New Crown pandemic has ended in some parts of the world, but that it is still a public health event, that New Crown remains a dangerous infectious disease with adverse and strong effects on the health of the world's population, and that it is necessary to continue to coordinate the international response, among other things.

To this end, the Committee recommended that the potential negative consequences of ending PHEIC be examined and requested the WHO Secretariat to assess the impact of ending PHEIC in the coming months on the development and vaccination of new crown vaccines, as well as on the diagnosis and treatment of new crown.

PHEIC is the highest level of international public health alert established under the International Health Regulations (2005). The failure of this emergency meeting to end PHEIC may have been expected. Just days before the 14th emergency meeting, Tandusai publicly stated that he was "very concerned about the situation and the increase in deaths in many countries" and was "very concerned that in recent times the number of deaths reported each week has been rising globally." Nearly a month ago, he said he hoped to announce in 2023 that "the new pandemic is no longer PHEIC".

After the release of the latest WHO statement, the medical community has heard different voices from a number of virologists and public health scholars. Some agree that it is not yet time to end PHEIC; some have the opposite opinion; and some point out that it is not significant whether the official declaration ends.