WHO: Global COVID deaths down 90% 

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The head of the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Wednesday that global COVID-19 deaths have dropped 90 percent since February.

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the director-general of WHO, said at a media briefing that only 9,400 COVID-19 deaths were reported to the organization last week, down from the more than 75,000 deaths reported in February.

“We have come a long way, and this is definitely cause for optimism, but we continue to call on all governments, communities and individuals to remain vigilant,” he said. “Almost 10,000 deaths a week is 10,000 too many, for a disease that can be prevented and treated.”

Some caveats: Tedros said testing rates remain low globally, vaccination gaps are wide and the continued creation of new variants is concerning. He said WHO urges everyone to become fully vaccinated and get their next dose if they are eligible.

Domestically: COVID-19 cases in the United States have consistently fallen since the end of July before plateauing in recent weeks. Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows the number of weekly cases topped 900,000 at the end of July and has hovered around 265,000 since last month.

Deaths from the virus in the country have also dropped dramatically since February, falling from more than 10,000 nine months ago to about 2,500 per week.

US: FEARS OF CATCHING COVID LOWEST SINCE SUMMER OF 2021: GALLUP 

Less than 30 percent of Americans are currently worried about catching COVID-19, marking the lowest total reported since June of 2021, according results of a new Gallup poll.

A year ago: At that time, 17 percent of Americans reported being worried about catching the disease compared with 28 percent who said the same in October 2022.

• The results also found 6 in 10 Americans are not attempting to isolate themselves at all, while a new record, 78 percent, advise healthy individuals to live life normally to avoid interruptions to work and business.
• In comparison, around 1 in 5 still say the best advice for healthy people without symptoms is to stay home as much as possible to avoid contracting and spreading the disease.
• A record low number of Americans also said they’re avoiding certain situations because of the threat of infection, and just 40 percent report using a face mask outside of their home in the past week, marking another new low of the pandemic.