"COVID-19 End in Sight" Why the WHO Secretary-General Urged to Focus Energy

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO)
[Photo by AP Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Jeong Hyunjin] Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO), said on the 14th (local time), "We have not yet reached the position to end the COVID-19 pandemic, but the end is in sight."

According to CNN and other outlets, Director-General Tedros stated at a press conference that "Last week, the number of deaths due to COVID-19 was the lowest since March 2020. We have never been in a better situation since the pandemic began."

However, Director-General Tedros emphasized that it is not yet time to relax, saying, "Just as a marathon runner does not stop when the finish line is in sight but uses all remaining energy to run harder, we must do the same." He added, "If we stop our (prevention) efforts here and miss this opportunity, a more uncertain situation will unfold. It is time to run harder, cross the line, and reap the rewards of our efforts."

He urged countries to carefully review their prevention-related policies and strengthen policies against COVID-19 and future viruses. He also called on all countries worldwide to strive to achieve the goal of a 70% COVID-19 vaccination rate without exception and to operate medical personnel and facilities for prevention in accordance with WHO recommendations.

Maria Van Kerkhove, WHO Technical Lead, who attended the press conference, responded to a question about the possibility of a COVID-19 resurgence by saying, "Infection waves will continue, but it is not expected that the number of deaths will increase significantly as in previous pandemics," adding, "We have many tools to prevent severe illness, such as vaccines and antiviral drugs."

Since the outbreak of COVID-19 at the end of 2019, more than 600 million people worldwide have been infected, and 6.5 million have died as a result.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.