In its latest weekly update on the pandemic, the U.N. health
agency said Wednesday that confirmed cases dropped 12% to more than 3 million
and reported deaths declined 22% to about 7,600.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus described
the continuing decline of COVID-19, which peaked in January, as “a very
encouraging trend.”
Still, he warned that the pandemic was not yet over and
urged caution, even as many countries have dropped their coronavirus protocols
and shifted into trying to live with the virus.
Tedros noted that 18 months after the first mass coronavirus
immunization programs began in rich countries, 68 countries around the world
have yet to protect 40% of their people. While enough vaccines are now
available, demand has fallen, he said.
“The perception that the pandemic is over is understandable,
but misguided,” the WHO chief said. “A new and even more dangerous variant
could emerge at any time, and vast numbers of people remain unprotected.”
WHO’s pandemic report noted that new weekly cases rose 19%
in the Middle East and inched up 1% in Southeast Asia, while falling everywhere
else. The number of deaths increased 7% in the Western Pacific and dropped
elsewhere in the world last week.
WHO has previously noted that the numbers are likely to be
an underestimate and are dependent on countries’ testing and reporting
strategies. Last week, WHO’s emergencies chief Dr. Michael Ryan said the
COVID-19 outbreak in North Korea was getting worse, not better.
Despite multiple offers of help, including vaccines, North
Korea has not accepted any offers of aid from WHO and has yet to share more
detailed information about how the outbreak is evolving there.