Lifting it is a sign of the progress the world has made in these areas, but COVID-19 is here to stay, the WHO has said, even if it no longer represents an emergency.
The WHO's Nima Saeed Abid said technicians were unable to access the National Public Health Laboratory to secure the biological materials.
Since COVID-19 first emerged, the World Health Organization has complained of an epidemic of misinformation about the pandemic.
The doctor was taken from his car in the town of Menaka, where Jihadist groups linked to al Qaeda and Islamic State are active.