The number of weekly reported deaths may have dropped by more than 80 percent since February, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director general of the World Health Organization (WHO), said at a news briefing on Wednesday.

Even so, he added, "last week one person died with COVID-19 every 44 seconds. Most of those deaths are avoidable."

Ghebreyesus said it is "encouraging" that the global decline in reported COVID-19 cases and deaths is continuing, but there is no guarantee these trends will persist.