The world has never been in a better position to stop the Covid-19 epidemic, World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said at a press conference in Geneva on Wednesday.
“Last week, the number of weekly Covid-19 reported fatalities was the lowest since March 2020,” he stated. “We have never been in a better position to bring the epidemic to a conclusion. We’re not there yet, but we’re getting close.”
“When the finish line is in sight, a marathon runner does not stop; she runs harder with all the energy she has left,” Tedros said. “And so must we. We can see the finish line, and we are in first place, but now is not the time to stop running. Now is the moment to push ourselves even harder to cross the finish line and enjoy the benefits of our efforts.”
He said that there is still a chance of additional mutations, fatalities, disruption, and uncertainty, so “let us grab this moment.”
WHO issued six policy papers on Wednesday outlining critical steps states could take to end the epidemic. The briefings, which are based on data and experience from the previous 32 months, provide advise on how to save lives, safeguard health systems, and avert social and economic upheaval. Tedros described them as “an urgent appeal for countries to take a serious look at existing policies and improve them in preparation for Covid-19 and future diseases with pandemic potential.”
Despite the fact that official case numbers have been severely underreported, statistics suggest a consistent reduction in cases both internationally and in the United States.
According to the most recent WHO data, weekly case counts are decreasing in all areas, with an overall decrease of 28% compared to the previous week. According to statistics from Johns Hopkins University, cases in the United States have been slowly declining over the previous two months.
According to the World Health Organization’s weekly epidemiological bulletin, there were little over 11,000 deaths recorded between September 5 and 11, a 22% drop from the previous week.
Decreases were observed in five WHO regions: 31% in the European Region, 25% in South-East Asia, 22% in the Americas, 11% in the Western Pacific, and 10% in the Eastern Mediterranean. The African Region had a 10% rise in fatalities.
The United States had the most weekly deaths, followed by Japan, Russia, Brazil, and the Philippines.
As of September 11, there have been over 6.4 million recorded fatalities worldwide.
Approximately two-thirds of the worldwide population – and roughly the same in the United States – have received at least their first set of vaccinations. However, considerable variations in Covid-19 immunization rates exist across low-income nations, and rates are moving slowly currently, particularly in the United States.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, new hospitalizations and fatalities will remain stable over the next month.
