this post was submitted on 11 Aug 2023
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I think I understand what you're getting at but just keep in mind that there are two sort of separate discussions in regards to that.
The WHO and the health organization of various countries are usually pretty specific in their definitions. The "public health emergency" of COVID is over because:
There is no longer a need for a coordinated international effort.
The population is no longer largely at risk due to vaccinations/immunities.
The mortality rate has dropped significantly.
But I don't think anyone would deny that COVID is here to stay on a global scale. It's just that the health systems of most countries are now equipped to manage it without all of the lockdown precautions.
I get where you're coming from, but only the first bullet point is factually accurate.The active strains have escaped immunity due to rapid and unmitigated mutation.
While I haven't look at recent data, my understanding is that new covid strains are, on average, getting less deadly and but more contagious as time moves forward. If that is still the case, then what we are really looking at now is an manageable endemic virus instead of a pandemic emergency, it's becoming more and more like the flu. It's important to remember that the flu was originally a pandemic that killed millions world wide and then became manageable and endemic. The prevailing scientific belief is that most viruses will slowly become more contagious and less deadly over time as those are the mutations most likely to survive. As the death rates continue to drop over time it's hard to really call it a pandemic anymore.
While they are "less deadly", they appear to cause an Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome. Not to mention "long covid" with its increased risk of blood clots and dementia.
Both of which appear to also be dropping in severity with time. If you were to say, people should still be careful and wear masks in a crowd, and generally take covid seriously because it's still dangerous, I completely agree with you. But at some point continuing to call something a pandemic is abusing the word a little, once it's being fully managed and generally under control then it's no longer a pandemic. Our own policy places us somewhere between a pandemic and an endemic, so I suppose it really depends on your definitions of the words and how squishy our perceptions of those words really are.