WHO chief says COVID's end is 'in sight'

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

(Image credit: Jack Guez/AFP via Getty Images)

published 15 September 2022

World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on Wednesday said global data is showing while "we are not there yet," the end of COVID-19 "is in sight."

Last week, the number of reported COVID-19 cases dropped to a low not seen since March 2020, the beginning of the pandemic. Deaths fell by 22 percent in the past week, WHO said, to around 11,000, and the number of new cases dropped 28 percent to 3.1 million.

This isn't the time to get too relaxed, Tedros warned, adding that it's possible many cases are going unreported due to eased COVID-19 testing and surveillance in many parts of the world. "Now is the worst time to stop running," he said. "Now is the time to run harder and make sure we cross the line and reap all the rewards of our hard work." If countries don't stay on offense against COVID, "we run the risk of more variants, more deaths, more disruption, and more uncertainty," Tedros declared.

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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.

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