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Morris Mac Matzen / AFP via Getty Images file
The Covid pandemic may be nearing a close, the World Health Organization said Wednesday.
New weekly deaths reached their lowest point last week since March 2020. The WHO recorded around 11,000 deaths globally the week of Sept. 5-11, a 22% decrease from the previous week.
New weekly cases also fell by 28% in that time, from nearly 4.2 million during the week of Aug. 29 to Sept. 4 to around 3.1 million last week, according to the WHO.
"We have never been in a better position to end the pandemic," WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said at a briefing Wednesday. "We are not there yet, but the end is in sight."
U.S. Covid deaths, however, have stayed relatively flat, with little change over the last two weeks, according to NBC News' tally.
The U.S. is recording a weekly average of 478 Covid deaths a day, which is far above its lowest rate ever: 168 daily deaths the week that ended July, 6, 2021. In June 2022, the average was 258 daily deaths.