The World Health Organization has convened an expert committee to discuss whether COVID-19 remains a global health emergency.

Experts and health officials from around the world gathered at the periodic meeting on Thursday.

They held closed-door talks on whether to stop calling the coronavirus outbreak a Public Health Emergency of International Concern.

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus opened the session with his remarks.

He noted that for each of the past 10 weeks, the number of weekly reported deaths from the virus has been the lowest since March 2020, when the pandemic was in its early stages.

Tedros said the sustained trend has allowed life to return to "normal" in most countries.

But he cautioned that some critical uncertainties about the evolution of the virus persist and that surveillance and genetic sequencing efforts have declined significantly around the world.

Tedros is expected to announce in the near future whether to lift the emergency after studying the committee discussions.

The WHO declared the emergency in January 2020.