WHO COVID-19 Update: End to Global Health Emergency

Covid-19 no longer represents a global emergency, the World Health Organisation (WHO) declared on 05 May 2023.

The announcement represents a symbolic step towards the end of a pandemic that has taken millions of lives and disrupted billions of others.

Lowering it demonstrates the extent of international progress on vaccines and treatments, but Covid-19 is here to stay, the organisation warned.

“It's with great hope that I declare COVID-19 over as a global health emergency,”

“That does not mean COVID-19 is over as a global health threat.”
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus

What This Means To The Travel Industry

Travel restrictions and quarantine protocols have been a common feature of the pandemic response. As the virus becomes more manageable, travel will become easier and more accessible.

In the United States, the public health emergency declared during the pandemic is set to expire on 11 May, when wide-ranging measures to support the pandemic response, including vaccine mandates, will end.

Many other countries, including the UK, Germany, and France have dropped many of their travel precautions against the pandemic last year.

Three years after COVID-19 was declared a pandemic, optimism has finally returned to the travel and tourism industry.

According to the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC), the global travel and tourism sectors are projected to return to pre-pandemic levels in 2023 and grow at a rate that will outpace global gross domestic product (GDP) growth.

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