MOSCOW — The number of new global cases of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) has risen over the past week after a long decline, the World Health Organization (WHO) said in a statement, according to Sputnik News Agency.

"Over 2.6 million new cases were reported last week, a 7% increase compared to the previous week, following six consecutive weeks of declining numbers.

“The global case increase was driven by increases in the Eastern Mediterranean (14%), South-East Asia (9%), Europe (9%) and the Americas (6%)," the WHO said.

"Possible reasons for this increase include the continued spread of more transmissible variants of concern (VOCs), relaxation of public health and social measures (PHSM) and fatigue around adhering to PSHM measures," it said.

The WHO said the weekly death toll figures kept decreasing. "The number of global new deaths continues to decrease, with over 63,000 new deaths reported last week, a 6% decrease as compared to the previous week," it said. — SPA