The end is ‘in sight,’ WHO says | Coronavirus Updates Newsletter

The gist: This week, global health leaders are saying the end of COVID is “in sight” as worldwide deaths drop to their lowest point since the start of the pandemic. That news comes as local gyms try to battle back from the pandemic’s impact. Plus, as parents bring students to college campuses for the new school year, emotions are amplified in the wake of COVID’s effects.

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— Nick Vadala (@njvadala, health@inquirer.com)

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Coronavirus deaths around the world last week were the lowest reported during the pandemic since March 2020, totaling just more than 11,000 worldwide, and marking a potential turning point, World Health Organization leaders said this week. But, as WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said, “now is the worst time to stop running.”

💸 Philly-area gyms are dealing with lower enrollment, rising labor costs, and supply chain issues as they build back from the impact of the pandemic. Some are closing for good.

😥 The pandemic has amplified emotions for many parents bringing students to college campuses this year — particularly if their child has struggled with anxiety and depression in the wake of COVID. 🔑

🧪 COVID-19 showed the benefits of at-home testing. Now, a new partnership is expanding access to HIV testing kits.

⚖️ A nurse who was swept up in the probe of former labor leader Johnny Doc has pleaded guilty to pandemic unemployment fraud, admitting that she collected benefits while receiving a $5,500 monthly salary.

🏥 One local health system isn’t yet recommending the new COVID vaccine.

📉 Coronavirus cases are falling in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. Track the latest data here.

We recently asked what your experience with being sick with COVID was like. Here’s what you told us:

💉 “Thanks to 2 shots and 2 boosters, it was not bad. 1-5 days of fatigue and sore throat. Then rapid recovery.”

🦠 “I went to Brooklyn last Christmas to be with my daughter. The night I arrived, my son-in-law suggested we test ourselves for Covid. They were negative, I was positive! Retested with a different kit, I was still positive. I had ZERO symptoms!”

🤒 “The second time I got Covid was a year ago last September. I never developed a fever but I did have a cough and body aches. Both times I never lost my smell or taste.”

💉 “The aggravating thing is 16 days out and I’m still testing positive but all my doctors tell me I’m not contagious! I beg everyone to please get this next vaccine!”

🤷 “It wasn’t memorable at all but for the societal impact COVID has had the past years.”

Penn Valley Elementary School student Abraham “Abe” Ndege’s mom packed him a sandwich for lunch for his first day of kindergarten — and it wasn’t a good one. So, when he stepped off the school bus, he let her have it, calling his lunch “really terrible.” Now, several years and 9.6 million views on TikTok later, Abe’s honest appraisal of his less-than-adequate lunch is part of Internet history.

🦝 It’s not just cute kids going viral in Philly — local squid scientists are, too. But they have to get raccoons involved.

🍄 After nearly a decade of research, one Mare of Easttown star has debuted a play about the Philadelphia area’s mushroom industry in — where else? — Chester County.

🌭 Two Philly dads are hoping to disrupt the condiment industry with powdered ketchup, mustard, and ranch — just add water.

In 2019, the Mütter Museum announced a $25 million expansion campaign for the cramped museum and library. Then the pandemic came. But now, for the first time since its 1863 founding, it has hired an executive director to focus solely on the museum, its historical medical library, its research arm, and its future. And big changes are afoot.