The WHO has Declared COVID-19 is No Longer a Pandemic-Level Threat: A Perspective Evaluating Potential Public Health Impacts

COVID-19, caused by a novel virus named coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2), was first identified in late 2019 in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China, and started to appear rapidly in other countries primarily through travel-related cases from individuals. 1 As a result, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared COVID-19 a global pandemic on March 11, 2020.2,3 The healthcare authorities worldwide implemented various measures to contain the virus's spread and mitigate its impact.4 Primary symptoms of COVID-19 include fever or chills, cough, shortness of breath, fatigue, muscle or body aches, headache, loss of taste or smell, sore throat, runny nose, etc. 1 This coronavirus has undergone several mutations since its initial emergence, such as the D614G mutation, Alpha variant, Beta variant, Gamma variant, Delta variant, Omicron variant, Arcturus variant, etc. 5,6 This pandemic has profoundly impacted the social, economic, educational, and health sectors globally.7,8,9 As of May 17, 2023, more than 766 million confirmed cases have been reported to WHO, including about 7 million deaths.10 To defend against COVID-19, several vaccinations such as mRNA vaccines (such as Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna), vector vaccines (such as AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson), and protein subunit vaccines (such as Novavax) have been developed, approved, and distributed globally.11 According to WHO, as of May 8, 2023, more than 13 billion vaccine doses have been administered globally.10 Because of this vaccination, high population-level immunity from infection reduces the risk to human health, and the mortality rate has significantly reduced than before.For the decreasing trend in COVID-19 deaths and a decline in COVID-19-related hospitalization and intensive care unit admission, the WHO has declared that COVID-19 no longer constitutes a public health emergency of international concern on May 5, 2023.12 Now businesses have reopened; people are doing their jobs, which are restoring economic stability and growth; they have already resumed their everyday social interactions; students have returned to in-person learning