WHO: New COVID cases fall for the 3rd week, deaths also drop

GENEVA (AP) — The number of new coronavirus cases around the world fell 21% in the last week, marking the third consecutive week COVID-19 cases have dropped. That’s according to the World Health Organization. In the U.N. health agency’s weekly pandemic report, the WHO said Tuesday there were more than 12 million new coronavirus infections in the last week. The number of new deaths fell 8% to about 67,000 worldwide, the first time that deaths have fallen since early January. WHO said omicron remains the overwhelmingly dominant variant worldwide. The Western Pacific was the only region that saw an increase in COVID-19 cases, with a 29% jump.