Coronavirus: What’s happening in Canada and around the world on Wednesday – CBC

Weekly WHO report says COVID cases drop by 19% globally, deaths stable

Feb 16, 2022

The number of new coronavirus cases globally fell by 19 per cent in the last week while the number of deaths remained stable, according to the World Health Organization.

The UN health agency said late Tuesday in its weekly report on the pandemic that just over 16 million new COVID-19 infections and about 75,000 deaths were reported worldwide last week.

The Western Pacific was the only region to report a rise in new weekly cases, an increase of about 19 per cent, while Southeast Asia reported a decrease of about 37 per cent, the biggest drop globally.

The biggest number of new COVID-19 cases was seen in Russia, according to the latest update, which covers the period of Feb. 7 to 13. Cases there and elsewhere in eastern Europe doubled in recent weeks, driven by a surge of the hugely infectious Omicron variant.

Read more: https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/coronavirus-covid19-canada-world-feb16-2022-1.6353382