Though COVID-19 cases continue to decline globally, they rose last week for the third week in a row in Africa and the Americas, the World Health Organization (WHO) said today in its latest weekly pandemic update.

Amid a US case increase, 16 major healthcare societies today called on federal officials to extend the country's public health emergency.

Infections caused by Omicron subvariants

Overall, global cases declined 12% compared with the previous with, with deaths down 25%. Both levels have been dropping since the end of March.

The WHO said more than 3.5 million cases were reported last week, along with more than 12,000 deaths. The WHO has urged caution, however, in interpreting COVID-19 patterns due to decreased testing as many countries ease back on their COVID-19 testing and surveillance.

The five countries that reported the most cases were the United States, Australia, Germany, Italy, and South Korea. The WHO added that a sharp spike in Australia's cases is due to revised case numbers from those confirmed by rapid tests.

In the Americas, cases were up 14% compared to the previous week, similar to the rise reflected in last week's update, and in Africa, cases rose 12%, smaller than the 31% rise reported last week. The WHO has said that rises in both regions are fueled by Omicron subvariants, including BA.4 and BA.5 that were first identified in South Africa and BA.2.12.1 that was first identified in New York.

In the Americas, the highest case numbers were from the United States and Brazil, where cases last week were up 19% and 18%, respectively. Africa's largest jump was in South Africa, where cases were up 36% last week.

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