The scars that remain must serve as permanent reminder of emerging threats
Después de 1.221 días, la Organización Mundial de la Salud puso fin el 5 de mayo de 2023 a su máxima alerta de emergencia por COVID-19, reconociendo que la humanidad ha cruzado un umbral, aunque no ha llegado al final del camino. El director general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus enmarcó el momento no como una victoria definitiva, sino como una pausa reflexiva en una historia más larga: la de cómo las sociedades aprenden a convivir con amenazas invisibles que no piden permiso para transformar el mundo. Con cerca de 20 millones de muertos y millones más afectados por el COVID prolongado, el levantamiento de la emergencia invita a recordar que el silencio de las alarmas no equivale a la ausencia del peligro.
- Tras más de tres años de emergencia global, la OMS declaró el fin de su alerta máxima cuando las muertes semanales cayeron de 14.000 en enero a 3.500 en abril, una señal de que la curva más aguda de la crisis había cedido.
- Sin embargo, el virus sigue matando a una persona cada tres minutos en algún rincón del planeta, y miles permanecen en unidades de cuidados intensivos, lo que convierte este anuncio en un alivio incompleto.
- La OMS advierte que la mayor amenaza ahora es la complacencia: desmantelar los sistemas de vigilancia o interpretar el fin de la emergencia como el fin del riesgo podría dejar al mundo expuesto ante nuevas variantes más letales o transmisibles.
- Para evitar ese vacío, la organización creará un comité permanente de revisión que monitoreará el COVID-19 de forma continua, incluso sin una declaración de emergencia activa, marcando un cambio histórico en cómo se gestiona una pandemia en su fase de transición.
El 5 de mayo de 2023, la Organización Mundial de la Salud cerró formalmente el capítulo de emergencia máxima del COVID-19, una declaración que había permanecido vigente durante 1.221 días desde el 30 de enero de 2020. En ese tiempo, el virus infectó a al menos 765 millones de personas y causó alrededor de 20 millones de muertes en todo el mundo, aunque la cifra oficial reconocida por la OMS es de 6,9 millones.
El director general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus anunció la decisión con una mezcla de reconocimiento y cautela. Rindió homenaje al trabajo de millones de trabajadores de la salud, a la innovación científica y a los sacrificios de las poblaciones, pero advirtió que la pandemia había dejado cicatrices que no deben olvidarse. Los números respaldan el optimismo relativo: en abril se registraron 630.000 casos semanales y 3.500 muertes, frente a 1,3 millones de casos y 14.000 muertes en enero, una caída impulsada por las campañas de vacunación y la inmunidad natural acumulada.
Pero Tedros fue enfático: levantar la emergencia no significa que el virus haya dejado de ser una amenaza. Cada tres minutos muere alguien de COVID-19 en el mundo. Millones siguen padeciendo síntomas persistentes del COVID prolongado. Y el virus conserva la capacidad de mutar hacia variantes más peligrosas. Por eso, la OMS anunció la creación de un comité permanente de revisión que continuará monitoreando la situación y orientando a los países en la gestión a largo plazo de la enfermedad.
Más allá del ámbito médico, la pandemia dejó una huella profunda en la economía global, destruyó negocios, empujó a millones a la pobreza y erosionó la confianza en las instituciones. El reto que queda no es celebrar el fin de una era, sino aprender de ella lo suficiente como para enfrentar lo que inevitablemente vendrá después.
On May 5th, 2023, the World Health Organization formally ended its highest level of emergency alert for COVID-19, a declaration that had remained in place for 1,221 days since January 30, 2020. The decision came after the organization's emergency committee convened to assess the current state of the pandemic, which over more than three years had infected at least 765 million people and caused approximately 20 million deaths worldwide.
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the WHO's director general, announced the decision and framed it as a moment of reflection as much as celebration. He credited the tireless work of millions of healthcare workers, scientific innovation, difficult government decisions, and the sacrifices made by populations everywhere. Yet he was careful to temper any sense of closure. The pandemic, he emphasized, had left scars that should serve as a permanent reminder of how quickly new viruses can emerge with catastrophic consequences.
The numbers tell a story of decline. In late April, the WHO confirmed 630,000 new cases globally and 3,500 deaths in a single week. Compare that to January, when weekly figures exceeded 1.3 million cases and 14,000 deaths—a period that included a significant wave in China. This downward trend over the past year reflected rising global immunity, driven both by vaccination campaigns and by the natural defenses developed by people who had survived infection. Yet Tedros made clear that lifting the emergency declaration did not mean the virus had stopped being a threat. Every three minutes, somewhere in the world, someone still dies from COVID-19. Thousands remain hospitalized in intensive care units. Millions continue to suffer from long COVID symptoms that persist long after initial infection.
Tedros warned against the most dangerous response to this news: using it as an excuse to dismantle the systems that had been built, to lower defenses, or to send populations the message that concern was no longer warranted. The virus, he noted, could still mutate into variants that are more lethal or more transmissible. For that reason, the WHO announced an unprecedented step—the creation of a permanent review committee that would continue to monitor the situation regularly, even without an active international emergency declaration. This committee would develop long-term recommendations to help countries manage the disease as it transitions from emergency status to something more akin to other infectious diseases that require ongoing management.
When the emergency was first declared in January 2020, only about a hundred cases had been reported outside China, and no deaths had occurred. The contrast is stark. The WHO officially recognizes 6.9 million deaths, though Tedros acknowledged that the true figure is likely at least 20 million. The pandemic's reach extended far beyond the medical realm. It triggered economic chaos, erasing trillions from global GDP, disrupting travel and commerce, destroying businesses, and pushing millions into poverty. It fractured nations, corroded public trust in governments and institutions, and created fertile ground for misinformation to spread. As the world moves forward, the challenge is not to forget these lessons, but to carry them into whatever comes next.
Notable Quotes
It is a moment for celebration, achieved through the tireless work of millions of healthcare workers, much innovation and research, difficult decisions by governments, and sacrifices we all had to make— Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director General
The worst thing countries could do now is use this news as an excuse to lower their guard, dismantle the systems they have built, or send the message that there is nothing to worry about— Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director General
The Hearth Conversation Another angle on the story
Why declare an end to the emergency now, when people are still dying every three minutes?
Because the trajectory has fundamentally changed. The emergency declaration was meant to signal an acute crisis requiring maximum mobilization. That acute phase has passed. But Tedros is careful to say the virus hasn't gone away—it's just no longer in the acute phase.
So what does it mean practically for a country like Peru, or anywhere else?
It means the systems shift. Hospitals stop operating in crisis mode. Governments can redirect resources. But it also means the burden of vigilance moves from emergency committees to regular health systems. That's actually harder in some ways—it requires sustained attention without the urgency.
The WHO is creating a permanent review committee. That sounds like they're hedging their bets.
Exactly. They're saying: we're not going back to sleep, but we're not staying in crisis mode either. It's a middle ground. The virus could still surprise us with a dangerous variant. The committee is insurance against complacency.
What about the people still suffering from long COVID? Does this declaration change anything for them?
Not directly. But it does risk changing how they're perceived. Once something stops being an emergency, it becomes easier for societies to forget about it. Long COVID patients might find less research funding, less urgency around treatment. That's the real danger of this moment.
You mentioned the economic toll—trillions lost, millions pushed into poverty. Does ending the emergency mean those wounds start healing?
Not automatically. The economic damage is done. What it might mean is that countries stop making emergency-level decisions and start making strategic ones. But the scars Tedros mentioned—those don't disappear just because you stop calling it an emergency.