GENEVA — The World Health Organization (WHO) is not lifting the health emergency due to the coronavirus pandemic for the time being.

The situation remains a public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC), the WHO announced in Geneva on Wednesday.

The declaration of such an emergency is the highest alarm signal the WHO can give. It is intended to wake up governments to a potentially dangerous health risk. It also imposes special reporting obligations on member countries.

The WHO declared a state of emergency because of the coronavirus on January 30, 2020. At that time, around 100 infections were known outside China in 21 countries. As of this week, there were more than 326 million reported infections worldwide and more than 5.5 million deaths.

There is no formal WHO declaration of whether a health situation is a pandemic or not. WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus had first declared the coronavirus situation a pandemic on March 11, 2020.

The declaration of a public health emergency is made on the recommendation of a panel of independent experts. This emergency committee then meets every three months to reassess the situation. The most recent virtual meeting took place last week. — Agencies