THE ESSENTIAL
- Prior to this statement, on September 1, however, the WHO had said that with colder weather approaching in the northern hemisphere, it was “reasonable to expect an increase in hospitalizations and deaths in the months to come”.
- The number of Covid-19 cases worldwide exceeded 600 million on Saturday August 27, according to data from the American Johns Hopkins University, with more than 6.4 million deaths worldwide.
“We have never been better placed to end the pandemic”assured the Director General of the WHO, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, during a press briefing on Wednesday March 14. “We’re not there yet, but the end is near.
A decline in cases and mortality
The Covid-19 figures justify this optimism. The week of September 5 to 12, the number of weekly deaths from Covid-19 has fallen to the lowest since March 2020, the start of the pandemic which has caused the death of several million people around the world. With around 11,000 deaths recorded, the trend is down 22% from the previous week. The number of cases also fell by 28% over the same period, to some 3.1 million new infections.
Despite an optimistic tone, the boss of the WHO did not fail to warn against a possible relaxation of the States: “A marathon runner doesn’t stop when he sees the finish line. He runs faster, with all the energy he has left. And so do we. We can all see the finish line, we are on the way to winning but it really would be the worst time to stop racing. If we don’t seize this opportunity, we run the risk of having more variants, more deaths, more disruptions and more uncertainty.”
Continue vaccination
As of September 4, the WHO declared more than 600 million official cases of Covid-19 since the end of 2019, for a total of 6.4 million deaths – a number lower than the reality, according to a study by the same institution, published last May, who rather estimated it between 13 and 17 million.
To accompany its message of hope, the WHO reaffirmed six key actions to help States end the health crisis. Among them, vaccinate 100% of vulnerable people and health personnel, continue testing programs and tracing of new potentially dangerous variants, or fight against misinformation linked to the pandemic.
In France, the number of patients currently in intensive care is at its lowest for two years, but the new cases have started to rise again for a week, worrying the authorities who evoke a possible eighth wave breaking over France.
