WHO remains committed to supporting countries in applying the Strategic plan and strengthening coronavirus threat management capacities, reducing risk and impact everywhere.

It was developed through broad consultation with Member States, experts, partners, WHO regional & country offices, and the public - thank you to all involved. Operational tools & M&E materials will follow to support implementation.

The plan links with key ongoing global processes, the WHO #PandemicAgreement, #HEPR Framework, #IHR & other respiratory strategies, to help countries build long-term, coherent systems for preventing, detecting & responding to threats.

It builds on WHO’s earlier preparedness and response plans for #COVID19 and #MERS, incorporating lessons learned and unifying them into a single, forward-looking approach for managing coronavirus disease threats in the years ahead.

The plan sets out the global framework for integrated, evidence-based coronavirus disease threat management across routine and emergency contexts, including preparing for and responding to a novel coronavirus with epidemic or pandemic potential.

“Coronaviruses remain one of the most consequential infectious disease threats today,” said @mvankerkhove.bsky.social. “WHO urges Member States to use the plan’s strategic directions to build resilient systems for current and future threats.”

#MERS remains a significant #zoonotic coronavirus threat, with continued spillover from camels and potential for wider transmission. Novel coronaviruses will continue to emerge, underscoring the need for sustained, robust threat management capacities.

Coronaviruses have driven major outbreaks (#SARS 2002, #MERS 2012, #COVID19 2019). While impacts are lower today, #SARSCoV2 still circulates widely and causes severe disease (esp. in risk groups) with ~6% developing Post COVID Condition (#LongCovid), sometimes lasting over a year

Sustained investment in COVID-19 management capacities (disease/genomic surveillance, #vaccination) as part of an integrated #respiratorythreat management approach is critical.

@who.int continues to assess the global public health risk of COVID-19, now every six months.

👉 JN.1 sublineages dominate (99.5% of sequences), with immune escape but without observed increases in disease severity.
👉 Long COVID persists, affecting ~6% of symptomatic cases, with lower rates in vaccinated individuals.

👉 JN.1 sublineages dominate (99.5% of sequences), with immune escape but without observed increases in disease severity.
👉 Long COVID persists, affecting ~6% of symptomatic cases, with lower rates in vaccinated individuals.

👉 COVID-19 continues to circulate widely, as evidenced by elevated test positivity rates from sentinel and wastewater surveillance.
👉 High population immunity (from infection, vaccination, or both) has led to reduced impact on human health, as compared with the pandemic period.