Covid-19 cases, deaths drop globally for 4th week in row: WHO

Geneva, Apr 21 (EFE).- The numbers of new confirmed Covid-19 cases and deaths dropped around the world for the fourth consecutive week, according to data published Thursday by the World Health Organization (WHO), which also urged caution over the figures due to changing testing strategies.

Both indicators fell by 24 and 12 percent, respectively, compared to the previous week.

The global total for the past week was over 5 million new cases and more than 18,000 deaths, with declines seen in all regions.

The drops in both indicators were more pronounced compared with the previous week when 7 million cases and 22,000 deaths were recorded.

The total number of confirmed cases since the pandemic began exceeded 500 million, while deaths exceeded 6 million globally.

“These trends should be interpreted with caution as several countries are progressively changing their COVID-19 testing strategies, resulting in lower overall numbers of tests performed and consequently lower numbers of cases detected,” warned the WHO in its weekly report.

Over the past week, the United States reported the highest number of deaths (3,076), followed by Russia (1,784), South Korea (1,671), Germany (1,227) and Italy (994).

The Western Pacific region (including China), the Middle East, and Europe saw the biggest drops in cases (25-28 percent less) as well as deaths (down 23-25 percent). EFE

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