The World Health Organization (WHO) on Wednesday, February 10, announced that from February 1 to February 7, the number of COVID-19 cases in the world decreased by 17% compared to the previous week. The data are published in the weekly epidemiological bulletin on the WHO website.
“For the fourth week in a row, the number of new cases reported has dropped,” the organization said. Over the past week, 3,153,426 cases were registered (17% less than a week earlier) and 88,369 deaths of patients (10% less). As of February 7, there were 105,429,382 cases of coronavirus infection and 2,302,614 deaths in the world.
As noted in the bulletin, a significant decline in incidence was recorded in Africa (by 22%) and Europe (by 19%), as well as in the Americas (by 17%). Mortality rates in these regions fell by 30%, 13% and 4%. A decrease in mortality is also observed in Southeast Asia (by 21%) and the Eastern Mediterranean (by 16%).
In the Americas, more than 1.5 million people were infected in a week and more than 45 thousand died. In Europe, the number of cases increased by more than 1.1 million, and deaths – by more than 33 thousand. In Southeast Asia, doctors identified more than 177 thousand new cases of COVID-19, more than 2.5 thousand people died.
The United States continues to lead in terms of the number of people infected, over 871 thousand new cases of the disease were recorded there in a week. Brazil is in second place (over 328 thousand), followed by France (over 136 thousand). Russia ranks fifth (over 116 thousand).
On February 9, experts discovered two more new COVID-19 mutations in the UK. One of the strains was found in Bristol and has been labeled as “a variant of concern.”
It is noted that the detected strain is capable of resisting human immunity, and it is also possible that the coronavirus vaccine may be powerless against it. At the same time, it is specified that the data are still at the stage of study.
Another COVID-19 mutation was recorded in Liverpool and is “under investigation.”