The Director-General of the World Health Organization said: The end of the Covid-19 pandemic is imminent, ‘Let’s seize this opportunity’

CNN
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Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health Organization, said the world has never been in a better position to end the Covid-19 pandemic. news briefing in Geneva on Wednesday.

“Last week, the number of reported weekly deaths from Covid-19 was the lowest since March 2020,” he said. We have never been in a better position to end the pandemic. We’re not there yet, but the end is in sight.

“A marathon runner doesn’t stop when the finish line appears; she’s working harder with all the energy she has left,” Tedros said. We can see the finish line, we’re in a winning position, but now is the worst time to stop running. Now is the time to run even harder and make sure we cross the line and reap the rewards of all our hard work.”

There is still a risk of more variables, deaths, disruption and uncertainty, he said, “so let’s seize this opportunity.”

The World Health Organization issued Six policy briefs Wednesday outlining the main actions governments should take to stem the pandemic. The summaries are based on evidence and experience from the past 32 months and provide guidance on how to save lives, protect health systems and avoid social and economic disruption. It is an “urgent call for governments to take a closer look at and strengthen their policies for Covid-19 and future pathogens with pandemic potential,” Tedros said.

Although the number of official cases has not been significantly reported, trends have shown a steady decline in cases globally and in the United States.

According to the latest WHO update, the weekly number of cases is declining in all regions, with an overall decrease of 28% compared to the previous week. And in the United States, cases have been declining steadily over the past two months, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.

World Health Organization Weekly epidemiological update He said Wednesday that more than 11,000 deaths were reported between September 5 and 11, down 22% from the previous week.

Decreases were reported in five WHO regions: 31% in the European Region, 25% in the Southeast Asia Region, 22% in the Americas Region, 11% in the Western Pacific Region, and 10% in the Eastern Mediterranean. region. There was a 10% increase in deaths in the African Region.

The United States recorded the largest number of weekly deaths, followed by Japan, Russia, Brazil and the Philippines.

Overall, more than 6.4 million deaths were reported globally as of September 11.

About two-thirds of the world’s population — and roughly the same in the United States, specifically — is vaccinated with at least a primary series. But large disparities in Covid-19 vaccination rates persist between low-income countries, and rates are changing little now, particularly in the United States.

Projections published by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention indicate that new hospitalizations and deaths will remain flat over the next month.