World Health Organization head Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, after telling reporters a week before that the world had “never been in a better position to end the pandemic… The end is in sight,” tempered his assertion that the end of the pandemic was near, warning that declaring the crisis over was “still a long way off.”
Speaking again to the media from the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York, Tedros appeared less upbeat, making clear that “being able to see the end, doesn’t mean we are at the end.”
He reiterated that the world was in the best position it had ever been to end the pandemic, with the number of weekly deaths continuing to drop –now at just 10 percent of what they were at the peak in January 2021.
He also pointed out that two-thirds of the world’s population has been vaccinated, including three-quarters of health workers and older people.
“We have spent two-and-a-half years in a long, dark tunnel, and we are just beginning to glimpse the light at the end of that tunnel,” he said.
But, he stressed, “it is still a long way off, and the tunnel is still dark, with many obstacles that could trip us if we don’t take care.”
In its latest epidemiological update, the WHO said over 9,800 fatalities were reported last week, down 17 percent from a week earlier, while 3.2 million new cases were reported. It however warned that the falling number of reported cases is deceptive as many countries have cut back on testing and may not be detecting less serious cases.
Since the start of the pandemic, the WHO has tallied more than 609 million cases and some 6.5 million deaths, thought he true toll is believed to be substantially higher.
We have truly spent a long amount on time inside this dark tunnel, and as we continue moving forward, we can definitely see the light at its end. However, if we stop moving, get sidetracked, or inexplicably back slide, reaching that end could take much longer, consuming more of the energy and resources that we will still need once we finally emerge from the tunnel to chart our own path forward.
We are still in the tunnel. There’s only one way forward, so let us keep moving with purpose, discipline and determination.*
