An electron-microscope image of the COVID-19 virus.Credit:CSIRO
WHO says Europe also had the biggest rise in deaths in the previous week,with 11 per cent more COVID-19 deaths. WHO says the highest numbers of new cases in Europe were reported in Britain,Turkey and Russia.
The biggest drops in cases came in Africa and the Western Pacific,where case numbers fell by 32 per cent and 27 per cent,respectively. Deaths in both regions fell by more than a third.
“Globally,no new countries,territories or areas reported cases with[variants of concern] in the past week,” the WHO reported.
“As of 12 October,cases of Alpha variant have been reported from 195 countries,Beta variant from 145 countries,Gamma variant from 99 countries,and Delta variant from 191 countries across all six WHO regions.”
According to Johns Hopkins,global deaths from COVID-19 have also been trending downwards since late August. They recorded 49,231 deaths from the COVID-19 last week over the previous seven days,down from 69,934 in the week of August 22. The pandemic peak was 100,993 deaths in a week on January 24,2021.
In a sign of a shifting posture toward coronavirus,the US said it would reopen its land borders to nonessential travel next month,ending a 19-month freeze due to the COVID-19 pandemic.