WHO: COVID-19 cases rose by more than 50%, deaths stable

GENEVA (AP) — The World Health Organization says the number of new coronavirus infections in the last week globally jumped by about 55% although the number of deaths remained stable. In its latest weekly pandemic report issued on Tuesday, the U.N. health agency said there were about 15 million new COVID-19 cases last week and more than 43,000 new deaths. Every world region reported a rise in COVID-19 cases except for Africa, where officials saw a 11% drop. WHO says the extremely contagious omicron variant continues to define the pandemic globally and is now crowding out the previously dominant delta variant.