header banner
WORLD, Coronavirus

Weekly COVID-19 cases hit record fuelled by Americas - WHO

GENEVA, Dec 23: Weekly COVID-19 cases rose by the highest amount since the pandemic began, the World Health Organization said late on Tuesday, with the Americas accounting for half of them.
FILE PHOTO: Hospital staff watch Intensive Care Unit Nurse Merlin Pambuan, 66, walk out of the hospital where she spent 8 months with the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), at Dignity Health – St. Mary Medical Center, in Long Beach, California, U.S., December 21, 2020. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson
By Reuters

GENEVA, Dec 23: Weekly COVID-19 cases rose by the highest amount since the pandemic began, the World Health Organization said late on Tuesday, with the Americas accounting for half of them.


The data shows a continuation of the trend for rising cases this month as vaccination rollouts begin in some countries.


Related story

Coronavirus hitting the Americas hardest says World Health Orga...


New cases rose by 6%, or by 4.6 million, in the week to Dec. 20, the Geneva-based body said in its weekly epidemiological update. New deaths rose by 4% or around 79,000 in the same period.


The United States of America reported 1.6 million new cases of the respiratory disease, the highest number of new cases for any single country in the world, followed by Brazil. The weekly U.S. increase was 14%.


Europe accounted for the highest number of new deaths or over 36,000 which was nearly half of the weekly global total.


The WHO regional chief said earlier that a meeting was planned on Wednesday to discuss a new, more infectious variant of the virus that has emerged in Britain.

Related Stories
OPINION

How to help vulnerable groups

My City

Oldest human footprint found in the Americas confi...

SOCIETY

Dramatic rise in COVID-19 related deaths in Sudur...

SOCIETY

Myagdi youth released from isolation ward amid fan...

ECONOMY

Weekly Market Commentary: Stocks post weekly gain...