Dr Ghebreyesus also announced that the WHO would be releasing documents on items such as vaccines and testing outlining the key actions governments around the world need to take to bring the pandemic to an end.

This promising news comes as data shows that Covid-19 infections in the UK dropped to their lowest level in 11 months at the end of August.

Despite a spike in infections in early July – when cases hit 3.8 million due to the Omicron BA.4 and BA.5 subvariants – cases have now fallen significantly, with the Office for National Statistics (ONS) estimating that a total of 944,700 people had the virus in the week to August 28, the lowest UK-wide total since October last year.

The World Health Organisation says the end of the Covid-19 pandemic is “in sight”