End of the COVID-19 pandemic is in sight, says WHO chief

The world has never been in a better position to end the COVID-19 pandemic, the head of the World Health Organization said on Wednesday, urging nations to keep up their efforts against the virus that has killed over six million people. "We are not there yet.

The world has never been in a better position to end the COVID-19 pandemic, the head of the World Health Organization said on Wednesday, urging nations to keep up their efforts against the virus that has killed over six million people.

"We are not there yet. But the end is in sight," WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told reporters at a virtual press conference. Deaths from COVID-19 last week were the lowest since March 2020, the U.N. agency reported.

While the WHO expects continued future waves of COVID-19 infections, the world had tools in hand such as vaccines and antivirals to prevent serious infections, said Maria Kerkhove, technical lead for COVID-19. Monkeypox cases, too, were on a downtrend but Tedros urged countries to keep up the fight.

"As with COVID-19, this is not the time to relax or let down our guard."

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