(Image via time.com)
Staff Writer: Sakara De Gil-Balija
Email: sdegilbalija@umassd.edu
On Monday, January 30th, The World Health Organization (WHO) stated that COVID-19 has entered a transition point.
After nearly three years of a global pandemic, COVID-19 still remains a relevant global health emergency, even as society adjusts to living alongside it.
WHO’s International Health Regulations Emergency Committee had its fourteenth meeting on Friday, January 27th, to reevaluate the pandemic.
According to CNN, “WHO’s advisory committee said it urged WHO to propose ‘alternative mechanisms to maintain the global and national focus on COVID-19 after the PHEIC is terminated.’”
The PHEIC is the WHO’s Public Health Emergency of International Concern.
WHO states that “there is little doubt that this virus will remain a permanently established pathogen in humans and animals for the foreseeable future.”
(Image via cdc.org)
The Director-General of the WHO, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, closes his statement with, “my message is clear: do not underestimate this virus. It has and will continue to surprise us, and it will continue to kill unless we do more to get health tools to people that need them and to tackle misinformation comprehensively.”
The IFRC, or the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, also released a statement about the COVID-19 crisis, “nobody is safe until everybody is safe. The pandemic is not over, and nor is the response.”
Pandemic fatigue is defined simply as a point in a pandemic where the population becomes stressed on all sides, such as emotionally, physically, and mentally stressed.
Many believe that this is why the virus had many fluctuations in case numbers and why COVID still averages about 500 new cases per week.
People get tired of the pandemic and give up. And that is when spikes happen.
This could mean many more years of COVID. Though we are in a period where vaccines are taking care of our bodies, precautions, such as distancing and mask-wearing, are still recommended by the CDC.
What exactly could this mean for us as college students?
It could mean irregular spikes in covid cases and possibly the return of virtual classes.
It could mean another wave of quarantine, which would most definitely be extremely similar to the quarantine period during 2020.
The way to defeat this virus is to still take all precautions. This pandemic will not be over until it isn’t something that people worry about.
So remember, wear your masks, social distance, and get your vaccines!