WHO reports 90% drop in world COVID-19 deaths since February

By JAMEY KEATEN
Associated Press

GENEVA (AP) — The head of the World Health Organization says there’s “cause for optimism” as the latest weekly count of deaths worldwide linked to the coronavirus came in at more than 9,400 — nearly 90% below levels seen nine months ago. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on Wednesday pointed to progress since weekly deaths topped 75,000 in February. The U.N. health agency said the tally of newly registered COVID-19 cases worldwide came in at over 2.1 million for the week ending Sunday, down 15% from the previous week. Overall, the WHO has reported 629 million cases and 6.5 million deaths linked to the pandemic.