The World Health Organization is seeing a decreasing trend on new cases of coronavirus disease globally.
The WHO said that cases were down to 16 percent last week to 2.7 million.
The number of new deaths reported also fell 10 percent week-on-week, to 81,000.
RELATED STORY: BOOSTER SHOT: 40% of UAE’s population vaccinated against COVID-19
The UN agency said that five of the six WHO regions of the world reported a double-digit percentage decline in new cases.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus revealed that the number of new cases had declined for a fifth consecutive week, dropping by almost half.
“This 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 is not out, but we have reduced its size. If we stop fighting it on any front, it will come roaring back,” Tedros said.
The WHO said that it has also finalized the list of countries receiving the COVID-19 vaccines from the COVAX facility.
READ ON: Dubai, nakakuha na ng panibagong supply ng Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine
“Covax anticipates the bulk of the first round of deliveries taking place in March, with some early shipments… occurring in late February,” COVAX said in a statement.
The WHO also approved AstraZeneca vaccines for emergency use this week.
Some 145 economies participating in Covax are set to receive enough doses to immunize 3.3 percent of their collective population by mid-2021. (TDT)
