COVID-19 pandemic | NICD warns against complacency

JOHANNESBURG - COVID-19 is no longer a public health emergency of international concern.

That's according to the World Health Organization.

It believes countries can now manage the virus independently, along with other infectious diseases.

READ: COVID-19 no longer a global health emergency - WHO

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus says the pandemic has been on a downward trend for more than a year.

But South African health officials are urging us to remain vigilant.

The NICD's Professor Adrian Puren warns that the novel coronavirus is still spreading.

READ: Medical Diagnostech announces local COVID-19 antigen test

''I think the decision is a difficult one for WHO, it's easy from a country's perspective," he said.

"What they mean is the emergency is over, now we need to move to a transitional phase.

"The pandemic is not over, it's just behaving differently."