At the global level, COVID-19 cases declined for the fourth week in a row, which the head of the World Health Organization (WHO) said is encouraging, though not a guarantee that the trend will persist in the months ahead.

SARS-CoV-2 'will not just fade away'

In its weekly update on the pandemic, the WHO said cases dropped by 12% last week compared to the week before. Cases fell in all six of the WHO's regions.

At a WHO briefing today, Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, PhD, warned that it's dangerous to assume COVID cases will continue to fall. "You might be tired of hearing me say the pandemic is not over. But I will keep saying it until it is. This virus will not just fade away," he said.

Tedros said the WHO understands that countries are juggling multiple challenges and competing priorities. To help countries reassess and recalibrate their policies, he announced that the WHO next week will publish a set of six short policy briefs that outline essential steps governments can take to reduce transmission and save lives. The categories include testing, clinical management, vaccination, infection prevention and control, risk communication and community engagement, and managing misinformation.

Of about 4.2 million cases reported last week, the five countries with the most cases were Japan, the United States, South Korea, Russia, and China.

Read more...