WHO: Record weekly COVID cases last week but deaths stable

GENEVA (AP) — The World Health Organization says there were 21 million new coronavirus cases reported globally last week. That’s the highest weekly number of COVID-19 cases recorded since the pandemic began. The number of deaths was largely unchanged, at more than 50,000.  In its weekly assessment of the pandemic, the U.N. health agency says the number of new coronavirus infections rose by 5% and that the rate of increase appears to be slowing; only half of regions reported an increase in COVID-19. Earlier this month, the previous highest number of cases — 9.5 million — was recorded amid a 71% spike from the week before, as the hugely contagious omicron variant swept the world.