World Health Organization (WHO) Director for Africa Dr. Matshidiso Moeti said in a press briefing that though COVID cases in the African continent have declined by 10% in recent weeks, it is not a signal the pandemic has ended. The report on this was written by Kevin Cheruiyot and published by The Star last March 18, 2022.

Moeti said, “Although the continent is reporting fewer and fewer cases, this does not signal the end of the pandemic. We must maximize on this opportunity to protect as many people as possible with the vaccine and close all the avenues for a Covid-19 resurgence”.

Editor’s Note: It is important to note that Moeti’s recent statements appear to contradict her earlier pronouncements [see Africa transition out of pandemic phase].

She appears to be echoing the assertions of her boss, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus who recently said, “Each country is facing a different situation with different challenges, but the pandemic is not over. I repeat, the pandemic is not over.”^[1]https://www.webmd.com/lung/news/20220317/who-covid-echo-arond-world

To be honest, this is no longer a surprise for us. After all, the global pandemic treaty is currently in the works, and that will lose its momentum if the WHO declares that the pandemic has ended [see World Health Assembly Agrees to Launch Process to Develop Global Treaty to Fight Pandemics, World Council for Health Sounds Alarms on WHO’s pandemic treaty initiative].

In light of this new statement from Moeti, we must point out the fact that she did not mention any indicator which can be used to determine the end of the pandemic. Are we perhaps just basic the end of the pandemic on the vaccination rate of countries? Will the pandemic end if all countries have vaccinated 70% of their citizens? Or is the goal 100% vaccination? [Read Will the Philippines’ State of Emergency end if the country reaches 70% vaccination rate?, Will 90% COVID Inoculation Rate Protect Filipinos from Surge of New Cases and High Mortality?, This is the reason why authorities want 100% COVID vaccination, The war on the ‘unvaccinated’ is a desperate attempt to destroy the control group].

In the Philippines, the exit plan still has not been published, despite the government consistently referring to it. What about other countries? What are the indicators for ending the COVID emergency?

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