The number of new COVID-19 cases reported worldwide fell by 16 percent last week to 2.7 million, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

The number of new deaths reported also fell by 10 percent week-on-week to 81,000, the WHO said late Tuesday in its weekly epidemiological update, using figures up to Sunday.

Five of the six WHO regions reported a double-digit percentage decline in new cases, with only the Eastern Mediterranean showing a rise of 7 percent.

New case numbers dropped 20 percent last week in Africa and in the Western Pacific, 18 percent in Europe, 16 percent in the Americas and 13 percent in southeast Asia.

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said Monday that the number of new cases had declined for a fifth consecutive week, dropping by almost half, from more than 5 million cases in the week of January 4.

"This shows that simple public health measures work, even in the presence of variants," Tedros said.

"What matters now is how we respond to this trend. The fire is not out, but we have reduced its size. If we stop fighting it on any front, it will come roaring back."

The coronavirus variant of concern first detected in Britain was reported in 94 countries and regions in the week to Monday, the epidemiological update said, an increase of eight.

Local transmission of the variant, as opposed to imported cases, has been reported in at least 47 countries.

The variant first spotted in South Africa was recorded in 46 countries, up by two countries, with local transmission in at least 12 of those nations.

The so-called Brazilian variant was detected in 21 countries, up by six countries, with local transmission in at least two countries.

Covax delivery plans

Meanwhile, the Covax facility, the global COVID-19 vaccine procurement and distribution effort which aims to ensure poorer countries are also able to access doses, said its final shipment list for the first deliveries would be issued next week, following the WHO giving the green light to the AstraZeneca jabs.

On Monday, the WHO gave the seal of approval to the AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine being manufactured in plants in India and South Korea, meaning it can now be shipped out via Covax, giving many countries their first COVID-19 shots.

"Covax anticipates the bulk of the first round of deliveries taking place in March, with some early shipments... occurring in late February," the WHO co-led facility said in a statement.

Read more: Chinese vaccine makers Sinovac, Sinopharm and CanSino apply to join COVAX scheme

The interim distribution list issued on February 3 broke down the program's initial 337.2 million doses, of which all barring 1.2 million Pfizer-BioNTech doses are from AstraZeneca. Both WHO-approved vaccines require two injected doses.

Some 145 economies participating in Covax are set to receive enough doses to immunize 3.3 percent of their collective population by mid-2021.

"Deliveries for this first round of allocation will take place on a rolling basis and in tranches," Covax said.

(Cover photo: Doses of AstraZeneca vaccines for COVID-19 sit in vials at the Fiocruz Foundation after being bottled in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, February 12, 2021. /AP)