WHO experts weigh up whether world ready to end COVID emergency

FILE PHOTO: An epidemic-prevention worker in a protective suit stands guard at the gate of a residential compound as coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreaks continue in Beijing, China November 28, 2022. REUTERS/Thomas Peter

LONDON (Reuters) - A panel of global health experts will meet on Thursday to decide if COVID-19 is still an emergency under the World Health Organization's rules, a status that helps maintain international focus on the pandemic.

The WHO first gave COVID its highest level of alert on January 30 2020, and the panel has continued to apply the label ever since, at meetings held every three months.