The World Health Organization has given its most upbeat assessment on COVID-19 since declaring the disease an international emergency in January of 2020. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said Wednesday the number of newly reported infections has dropped dramatically.

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus: “Last week, the number of weekly reported deaths from COVID-19 was the lowest since March 2020. We have never been in a better position to end the pandemic. We are not there yet, but the end is in sight.”

This week the number of global confirmed COVID-19 deaths topped 6.5 million. But the WHO reports the number of excess deaths during the first two years of the pandemic totaled nearly 15 million.