The past week had the lowest number of global Covid-19 cases and deaths since February, according to the World Health Organization’s Covid-19 Weekly Epidemiological Update published Tuesday. 

Cases and deaths continue to decrease, with more than 2.5 million new cases and more than 64,000 deaths in the past week, the report says, a 6% decrease for cases and a 12% decrease for deaths compared to last week. 

“While the number of cases reported globally now exceeds 177 million, last week saw the lowest weekly case incidence since February 2021,” the update says. 

The Southeast Asian and European regions reported a decline in the number of new cases, the Americas and Western Pacific regions reported case numbers similar to the previous week and the African region recorded a “marked increase,” WHO said. 

While global mortality remains high with over 9,000 deaths reported each day over the past week, all regions excluding the Eastern Mediterranean and African Regions had a decrease in the number of new deaths reported in the past week. 

Brazil reported the highest number of new cases, followed by India, Colombia, Argentina and the Russian Federation. 

According to WHO’s update, the Alpha variant is now in 170 countries, Beta in 119, Gamma in 71 and Delta in 85. Alpha was reported in seven new countries in the past week, Beta in four, Gamma in three and Delta in six.