The number of new cases of Covid reported worldwide fell by 16% last week, to 2.7 million, the World Health Organization said.
The number of new deaths reported also fell by 10% over the same period, to 81,000, the WHO said Tuesday evening in its weekly epidemiological update.
Five of the six WHO regions in the world reported a decline in infections, with only the Eastern Mediterranean showing an increase of 7%. New case numbers fell 20% last week in Africa and the Western Pacific, 18% in Europe, 16% in the Americas and 13% in Southeast Asia.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Monday that the number of new cases had dropped for the fifth week in a row, falling by almost half, from more than 5 million cases in the fourth week of January.
"It shows that simple public health measures work, even in the presence of variants. What matters now is how we respond to this trend. The fire has not been extinguished, but we have reduced its size. If we stop fighting in any front, will be back again, "he said.
Meanwhile the Covax structure , the global effort to distribute Covid-19 vaccines to poor or developing countries, said its final list of first shipments would be released next week after the WHO approved the AstraZeneca / Oxford vaccine.
- Coronaphobia is a new pandemic disorder: Here's what you need to know
- In real life: Important study on the Pfizer vaccine
- B1525: The new Covid variant worries experts and requires urgent study
- WHO finds possible signs of a more massive explosion in 2019
- Covid-19: What is happening with vaccines in the country
- WHO investigation controversy in China: What is being kept secret?
- Do Vitamin C and Zinc Help Fight Covid-19? Here is what the new studies say!
Sources: Guardian, WHO
