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World Health Organization Says COVID-19 Still an Emergency

WHO says virus is still an emergency but nearing "inflection point."

The World Health Organization says COVID-19 is still a global health emergency. 

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus says while the situation is better now than it was a year ago, the number of deaths has been rising since early December. 

The organization notes over 170,000 thousand deaths have been reported over the last eight weeks. 

It's calling for at-risk groups to get up to date on their vaccinations. 

The organization also says there needs to be an increase in testing, lab networks and early use of antivirals. 

This comes after WHO released findings made by its emergency committee, which reported over 13 billion vaccinations  have been administered. 

About 90 percent of health workers and four out of five people over 60 years old have at least one shot. 

According to the committee, "pandemic fatigue" and public perception about the virus not being as risky now as it once was, is leading to people disregarding measures like social distancing and mask-wearing. 

Today marks three years since COVID-19 was declared a global public health emergency. 

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