By Grace Kuria
The World Health Organization has said that the number of new COVID-19 cases reported has declined for seven weeks in a row, in what WHO calls “the longest sequence of weekly declines during the pandemic so far.”
WHO Director General Dr. Tedros Adhanom however said, while weekly cases are at their lowest since February, “deaths are not falling as quickly.”
“The number of deaths reported last week was similar to the previous week, and the global decline masks a worrying increase in cases and deaths in many countries,” he explained.
The DG also said that with the least access to vaccines, diagnostics and oxygen supplies for the critically ill, a steep increase in Africa is “especially concerning.”
A recent Lancet medical journal study showed that despite having fewer reported cases than most other regions, Africa has the highest mortality rate among critically ill COVID-19 patients.
With evidence suggesting that new variants have substantially increased transmission globally.
