Three years after the start of the coronavirus pandemic, the virus remains a threat to millions of people around the world, but it is reaching a "tipping point," according to the World Health Organization's Emergency Committee (WHO).
The organization added that “achieving higher levels of population immunity globally, either through infection and/or vaccination, can limit the impact of SARS-CoV-2 ( COVID-19) on morbidity and mortality, but there is no doubt that this virus will remain a permanently established pathogen in humans and animals for the foreseeable future."
Measures to counter the pandemic have allowed mortality rates to drop. However, in the past 8 weeks, "more than 170,000 have lost their lives to COVID-19, and these are just the reported deaths, we know the real number is higher," Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health Organization, said.
Thus, the virus remains a "global health emergency," but has entered a tipping point where "we cannot control the virus, but we can address vulnerabilities in populations and health systems," Adhanom added. Ghebreyesus.
Get Southern California news, weather forecasts and entertainment stories to your inbox. Sign up for NBC LA newsletters.
This change has also been seen locally.
“The trends we are seeing in the county, including the significant reduction in COVID cases, hospitalizations, and deaths this winter compared to the previous two winters, suggest that we may have entered a new phase of the pandemic, a phase characterized for greater protection of the population due to widespread vaccination or previous infection," the Los Angeles County Health Department said in a statement sent to Telemundo 52.
However, local health authorities do not describe this as "herd immunity."
Local
Get Los Angeles's latest local news on crime, entertainment, weather, schools, COVID, cost of living and more. Here's your go-to source for today's LA news.
In fact, they ensure that "we continue to see a significant number of cases, and COVID continues to be one of the leading causes of death in the county's population," according to the statement.
Health officials indicate that “although the reduced numbers have allowed us to adjust our guidance, with a reduction in some precautionary measures, COVID remains a significant threat. We must remain committed to maintaining vaccination efforts and ensuring access to treatment for infected people who are at higher risk of severe illness, and remain prepared to respond quickly if we are faced with a new variant that poses additional risks."
The WHO committee is aware that there is widespread pandemic fatigue at this time, and that many consider the risk of getting sick to have been eliminated. However, it is important to maintain precautionary measures and follow local guidelines to prevent infections.
