The chief of the World Health Organization said on Wednesday he hopes that COVID-19 will no longer be a global health emergency sometime next year.
Addressing a press briefing in Geneva, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the WHO COVID-19 Emergency Committee will discuss next month the criteria for declaring an end to the COVID-19 emergency.
"We're hopeful that at some point next year, we will be able to say that COVID-19 is no longer a global health emergency," he said.
He added, however, that the SARS-CoV-2 virus, the culprit behind the COVID-19 pandemic, will not go away.
"It's here to stay, and all countries will need to learn to manage it alongside other respiratory illnesses including influenza and RSV (Respiratory Syncytial Virus), both of which are now circulating intensely in many countries," he said.
The WHO chief said one of the most important lessons from the pandemic is that all countries need to strengthen their public health systems to prepare for, prevent, detect and respond rapidly to outbreaks, epidemics and pandemics.