For now, it remains a public health emergency in the United States, according to the US Department of Health and Human Services, and it’s still a public health emergency of international concern, or PHEIC, according to WHO. Each country, in turn, declares its own public health emergency – declarations that carry legal weight. In the United States, for example, the end of the public health emergency will have ramifications for health care coverage and cost-sharing of Covid-19 tests and treatments. At this point, WHO is not saying whether it will recognize an end to the Covid-19 pandemic. Instead, he said, WHO will continue to assess the need for the public health emergency, and an expert committee meets every three months to do that.

---