Weekly Covid-19 deaths drop to lowest since October globally, says WHO

The agency in a statement said that all WHO regions except America and southeast Asia posted an increase in deaths over the last week.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has said that the number of coronavirus disease (Covid-19) cases across the world saw a spike last week, even as the weekly count of Covid-19 deaths dropped to the lowest level since October.

The WHO said that most new Covid-19 cases were reported in Brazil and India - though weekly case counts in those two countries were declining. (REUTERS / Samuel Rajkumar)

The UN health agency, in its latest weekly epidemiological report on the Covid-19 pandemic, also said on Wednesday that its 53-country European region has reported a sharp increase - 30 per cent - in infection incidence, while Africa registered a 23 per cent rise in mortality from Covid-19 during the period, reports AP.

The agency in a statement said that all WHO regions except America and southeast Asia posted an increase in deaths over the last week.

The WHO said that more than 2.6 million new Covid-19 cases were reported between June 28 and July 4, a slight increase on the previous week, while the tally of deaths registered over the week declined 7 per cent to 54,000, That was the lowest such weekly figure since October.

The WHO said that most new Covid-19 cases were reported in Brazil and India - though weekly case counts in those two countries were declining - as well as Colombia, followed by Indonesia and Britain, which each tallied a weekly increase in coronavirus cases.