Experts from the World Health Organization and several important scientists have said that due to the devastating wave of Covid-19 in China, it is not possible to end the global emergency status soon.
Experts expressed this opinion after the zero-covid policy was scrapped by China in the past few days following public protests.
Experts have also expressed fears that a sudden reversal of the zero-covid policy could lead to more than one million deaths in China in 2023 as a result of the disease.
Experts said China's zero-covid policy helped keep new cases and deaths low in the country of 1.4 billion people, but the easing of restrictions also changed the global landscape.
Marion Koopmans, a member of the World Health Organization's Covid Emergency Committee, said that the question is when one of the most important parts of the world has just entered the second wave of Covid, can we call such a situation the end of the epidemic?
He added that it is clear that we are currently in the final stages of the epidemic, but we think the recent wave of epidemics in China could be a wild card.
In September 2022, the head of the World Health Organization, Dr. Tedros Adhanom, said that the end of the epidemic was in sight.
Speaking to reporters last week, he said he was hopeful that the global emergency would end sometime in 2023.
In most countries of the world, the Covid restrictions were lifted in 2022 as the number of cases decreased significantly.
Recommendations regarding the emergency alert level will be made by the World Health Organization committee at the end of January 2023.
On December 20, 5 deaths from Covid were reported in China while no deaths were reported on December 21.
Warning of global experts
A study by the University of Washington has expressed fears that China could experience more than 1 million deaths from Covid-19 during 2023 after the authorities lift many of the restrictions imposed to prevent the spread of the virus.
The study said that the next few months could prove to be quite difficult for China.
Other experts said that if the virus continues to spread like this in China, it could mutate genetically and emerge into a more dangerous form.
Tom Peacock, an expert at Imperial College London, said it was not yet clear whether the recent wave in China was a result of some sort of coronavirus or the freedom gained after the sanctions were lifted.
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