COVID-19 here to stay, but moving out of emergency phase: WHO

LONDON -- The virus causing COVID-19 is here to stay but the world is beginning to transition out of the emergency phase of the pandemic, the World Health Organization's chief said on Wednesday.

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a briefing that the UN agency will publish a guide for countries next week on how to move from an emergency response to the long-term management of COVID-19.

• COVID-19 Brief newsletter: Sign up for an informed guide on the pandemic

"We remain hopeful that sometime this year, we will be able to declare an end to COVID-19 as a public health emergency of international concern," said Tedros.

"But this virus is here to stay and all countries will need to learn to manage it alongside other infectious diseases."

• 

  World Health Organization (WHO) director-general Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus speaks at a news conference in Cape Town, South Africa, on Feb. 11, 2022. (AP Photo/Nardus Engelbrecht, File)