Geneva : The World Health Organization says the number of newly reported coronavirus cases fell in the last week, continuing a declining global trend that first began in August.
In its latest assessment of the pandemic, the UN health agency reported Tuesday that there were 3.1 million new COVID-19 cases, a 9% fall, and about 54,000 deaths in the last week, roughly similar to the week before. WHO said there were declines in case numbers in all world regions except for Europe, where the number was about the same as the previous week.
COVID-19 cases fell by about 43 per cent in Africa, by about 20 per cent in both the Middle East and Southeast Asia and 12 per cent in the Americas and the Western Pacific. The largest decline in deaths was seen in Africa, where numbers decreased by about a quarter.
Also Read J&J seeks US clearance for COVID-19 vaccine booster doses WHO also said nearly a third of African countries managed to vaccinate at least 10 per cent of their populations by the end of September. The WHO chief has repeatedly urged rich countries to pass on giving booster doses until at least the end of the year.
On Monday, the European Medicines Agency gave its endorsement to EU countries offering a third dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech shot to people 18 and over.
Tags COVID-19 Pandemic United Nations World Health Organisation World news
Related stories
Subscribe
- Never miss a story with notifications
- Gain full access to our premium content
- Browse free from up to 5 devices at once
Latest stories