The director of the World Health Organization (WHO) , Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, assured that the world has not been closer to foreseeing the end of the covid-19 pandemic .
“Last week the number of weekly deaths from covid-19 fell to its lowest level since March 2020. We have never been in a better position to end the pandemic. It is not over yet, but its end is within reach.” “, said Dr. Tedros at a press conference.
“Someone who runs a marathon does not stop when he sees the finish line. He runs faster, with all the energy he has left. And so do we,” stressed the head of the WHO.
“We can all see the finish line, we are about to win. It would truly be the worst time to stop racing.”
“If we don’t take advantage of this opportunity, we run the risk of having more variants, more deaths, more problems and more uncertainty,” he insisted.
According to data from the latest epidemiological report published by the WHO on covid-19, the number of cases fell 28% in the week from September 5 to 11 compared to the previous week, to 3.1 million new infections. declared.
The number of deaths fell 22% to less than 11,000.
The number of infections is undoubtedly much higher because mild cases go unreported, but also because many countries have dismantled their testing infrastructure.
In September, the WHO counted more than 600 million officially confirmed cases – a figure that is presumed to be much lower than the real one, the same as the official death toll: just over 6.4 million deaths worldwide.
Up to 17 million more deaths from covid-19
A study by the agency based on projections and evaluations published in May suggested that there could have been between 13 and 17 million more deaths from covid than the official ones by the end of 2021.
The international organization has published six guides to help States overcome this health crisis more quickly.
Among the messages repeated by the WHO after two years and with the arrival of vaccines, it suggests applying them to 100% of vulnerable people and health personnel, continuing to test the population and maintaining programs that allow tracking of new potentially dangerous variants. .
