October 20

The World Health Organization says COVID-19 remains a global health emergency as there are still too many deaths and uncertainties about the virus.

The WHO first declared COVID-19 a Public Health Emergency of International Concern in January 2020.

In a news conference on Wednesday, the WHO said its committee of experts on October 13 discussed for the first time the question of terminating the emergency.

But the organization said the committee members unanimously concluded that it was too early to do so.

It said the committee was concerned that there were still too many deaths and uncertainties about the risk of variants emerging.

The number of new cases and deaths worldwide is on a downward trend.

But there is also wariness about another surge in cases. In countries such as Germany and France, the number of people getting infected and receiving hospital treatment for the virus is on the rise again.

xinhua