The end of the Covid-19 pandemic is finally “in sight,” the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) director general has said.

Speaking during a press conference, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that weekly global deaths from the virus have reached their lowest level since March 2020 – the month the UK first went into lockdown.

However, Dr Ghebreyesus warned that efforts to stop the spread of the virus must continue despite these encouraging signs.  

“We have never been in a better position to end the pandemic – we are not there yet, but the end is in sight,” he said. “A marathon runner does not stop when the finish line comes into view, she runs harder, with all the energy she has left. So must we.

“We can see the finish line, we’re in a winning position. But now is the worst time to stop running. Now is the time to run harder and make sure we cross the line and reap the rewards of all our hard work.”

He continued: “If we don’t take this opportunity now, we run the risk of more variants, more deaths, more disruption and more uncertainty. So, let’s seize this opportunity.” 

Dr Ghebreyesus also announced that the WHO would be releasing documents on items such as vaccines and testing outlining the key actions governments around the world need to take to bring the pandemic to an end.

This promising news comes as data shows that Covid-19 infections in the UK dropped to their lowest level in 11 months at the end of August.

Despite a spike in infections in early July – when cases hit 3.8 million due to the Omicron BA.4 and BA.5 subvariants – cases have now fallen significantly, with the Office for National Statistics (ONS) estimating that a total of 944,700 people had the virus in the week to August 28, the lowest UK-wide total since October last year.

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