WHO: Global coronavirus deaths rise for 1st time in 6 weeks

A top World Health Organization expert on the coronavirus pandemic said Monday the weekly global count of deaths from COVID-19 is rising again, a 'worrying sign' after about six weeks of declines. Maria Van Kerkhove, technical lead on COVID-19 at the U.N. health agency, said the growth followed a fifth straight week of confirmed cases increasing worldwide. She said the number of reported cases went up up in four of the WHO's six regions, though there were significant variations within each region. 'In the last week, cases have increased by 8% percent,' Van Kerkhove told reporters. 'In Europe, that is 12%—and that's driven by several countries.' The increase is due in part to the spread of a variant that first emerged in Britain and is now circulating in many other places, including eastern Europe, she said.