A top World Health Organization (WHO) official believes the world has never been in a better position to end the coronavirus pandemic as deaths from COVID-19 last week were the lowest since March 2020.
“We are not there yet. But the end is in sight,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told reporters at a virtual press conference Sept. 15.
Dr. Michael Head, senior research fellow in global health at Southampton University, added “It’s probably fair to say most of the world is moving beyond the emergency phase of the pandemic response.”
Finish the Job
The virus, which emerged in China in late 2019, has killed nearly 6.5 million people and infected 606 million. Ghebreyesus comments come as vaccines and therapies have helped to stem deaths and hospitalisations in the last year and a half, and the Omicron variant which emerged late last year cases were less severe disease.
But officials urged everyone that the job must be finished against the pandemic that caused major disruptions in the economy and pushed healthcare systems to their breaking point worldwide.
Continue Vaccine Programs
“Now is the time to run harder and make sure we cross the line and reap the rewards of all our hard work,” said Ghebreyesus.
The WHO urged nations to vaccinate 100% of their high-risk groups and keep testing for the virus as a way to be prepared for the inevitable spikes in cases.
“We expect there to be future waves of infections, potentially at different time points throughout the world caused by different subvariants of Omicron or even different variants of concern,” said WHO’s senior epidemiologist Maria Van Kerkhove.
COVID-19 cases:
New daily PCR cases: 1,905; Probable Cases: 651
Total Cases: 2,708,594 (2,300,505 PCR cases, 408,089 probable cases)
New Confirmed Deaths: 9 (4 probable deaths, 34,663 total deaths)
Rate of Transmission: 0.91, the same for the second day in a row
Percent Positivity: 14.3% as of Sept. 11; by region, the rate was 13.8% in the North, 14.8% in the Central region and 14.6% in the South
By County:
Bergen County: 200 New Cases, 74 Probable Cases, 3,220 deaths, 336 probable deaths
Essex County: 194 New Cases, 42 Probable Cases, 3,363 deaths, 312 probable deaths
Hudson County: 134 New Cases, 53 Probable Cases, 2,556 total deaths, 221 probable deaths
Morris County: 95 New Cases, 53 Probable Cases, 1,308 deaths, 306 probable deaths
Passaic County: 113 New Cases, 32 Probable Cases, 2,183 deaths, 205 probable deaths
Sussex County: 31 New Cases, 14 Probable Cases, 406 deaths, 97 probable deaths
Warren County: 24 New Cases, 0 Probable Cases, 324 deaths, 29 probable deaths
Hospitals
Hospitalizations: 816 (301 North; 269 Central; and 246 South)
Patients in intensive care units: 84
Patients on ventilators: 40
Patients discharged: 133
The state dashboard showed 68 of 71 hospitals in the state reporting
Long-term Care Facilities
Facilities currently reporting one case: 373 (3,171 overall)
Current number of residents: 6,964 (56,847 overall)
Current number of staffers: 6,826 (45,631 overall)
Number of Deaths: 9,636 overall (8,766 reported by facilities, 144 staff deaths)
Vaccine
Total number of COVID-19 vaccines administered in New Jersey: 14,745,994 (14,223,973 in-state, plus an additional 522,021 administered out-of-state)
Fully Vaccinated: 7,039,915 (6,830,196 in state and another 209,719 out of state). By county, 741,131 in Bergen County, 614,464 in Essex, 546,415 in Hudson, 396,093 in Morris, 369,446 in Passaic, 94,716 in Sussex, and 62,566 in Warren.
Booster Shots: 4,277,381 (2,365,511 Pfizer, 1,837,946 Moderna and 73,924 Johnson & Johnson)
AND; It ain’t Over-Yet!! Look; Regardless where this highly intelligent germ originated.. The important thing is to Stop these Dangerous Experiment’s, that will take US All to Nowhere except the Graveyard!! Experimenting with Lyme Disease looked promising once, had it Not failed, but its lingering presence is still being felt!! So when you play, always be prepared to pay..//