The World Health Organization said nearly 20 million new COVID cases were recorded in the 28 days through Jan. 29, down 78% from the previous 28 days. The WHO counted more than 114,000 deaths in the period, up 65% from the previous one.
The agency is switching to a 28-day interval to smooth out weekly fluctuations in cases and deaths, but it continues to caution that a reduction in testing and delays in reporting in many countries are distorting the numbers. “Current trends in reported COVID-19 cases are underestimates of the true number of global infections and reinfections as shown by prevalence surveys,” the WHO said in its weekly epidemiological update. The WHO is now prioritizing four omicron descendent lineages, including XBB.1.5, which is dominant in the U.S., according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The other three are BF.7, BQ.1 and BA.2.75, along with their sublineages. These are currently the ones showing a growth-rate advantage in some countries compared with other circulating variants. U.S. cases are still declining. The seven-day average of new cases stood at 41,771 on Wednesday, according to a New York Times tracker. That’s down 23% from two weeks ago. The daily average for hospitalizations was down 22% at 31,593. The average for deaths was 453, down 6% from two weeks ago, but still an undesirably high number heading into the third year of the p …