On Wednesday, the Director-General of the World Health Organization announced that the number of coronavirus deaths around the world last week was the lowest in the pandemic since March 2020.

At a press conference in Geneva, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus stated that the world has never been in a better position to prevent COVID-19

"We are not there yet, but the end is imminent," he said. "Now is the worst time to stop running, now is the time to run faster and make sure we cross the finish line and reap the fruits of our hard work."

The World Health Organization (WHO) said in its weekly report on the pandemic that deaths have fallen by 22 per cent over the past week, for more than 11 thousand deaths recorded globally, and also recorded 3.1 million new cases, down 28 per cent, to continue a decline that began weeks ago worldwide.

But the organization warned that lax COVID testing and follow-up in many countries means that many cases will not be recorded or observed.

A series of policies have been issued to governments to strengthen their efforts to combat the coronavirus ahead of an expected rise in the number of coronavirus infections and deaths during the winter, noting that new mutated strains may overcome the progress made to date.

"If we don't take the opportunity now, we risk more mutated strains, more deaths, more disruption, more confusion," Tedros said.

The organization also recorded the continuation of the mutated sub-strain of Omicron BA. Global 5 and accounted for about 90 percent of the virus samples shared with the world's largest public database

In recent weeks, regulators in Europe, the United States and elsewhere have allowed modified vaccines targeting the original virus and mutated strains that emerged after it, including BA. 5