WHO reports drop in coronavirus cases and confirms global downward trend

The contagions of coronavirus confirmed last week fell, continuing the global downward trend that began in August, said the World Health Organization (WHO) on Wednesday.

In its latest weekly assessment of the pandemic, the United Nations health agency reported 3.1 million new infections of COVID-19 worldwide, 9% less than in the previous week, with around 54,000 deaths, almost the same figure as in the previous seven days.

Cases fell in all regions of the world with the exception of Europe, which almost repeated the data of the previous week.

COVID-19 cases fell by around 43% in Africa, by around 20% in the Middle East and Southeast Asia, and by 12% in the Americas and the Western Pacific. The steepest decline in deaths occurred in Africa, with almost 25% fewer.

According to the WHO, about a third of African nations were able to vaccinate at least 10% of their population by the end of September. The agency’s CEO has repeatedly urged rich nations not to administer a booster dose until the end of the year.

The European Medicines Agency gave the green light on Monday for European Union countries to offer a third dose of the vaccine developed by Pfizer-BioNTech to people over 18 years of age.

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