Global COVID-19 Infection Rate Approaches Record High, WHO Warns

The World Health Organization said Friday that COVID-19 cases are increasing globally at a worrying rate, with the number of new cases doubling each week, a pace approaching the highest rate of infection since the pandemic began.

The WHO said Friday there were 541,960 new cases in the past week. On February 22 -- the week new cases began to tick up after six weeks of decline – 194,469 new cases were reported.   At a virtual briefing at the agency’s headquarters in Geneva, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said countries that had avoided widespread infections are now seeing steep increases.   He pointed to Papua New Guinea, which, until the beginning of this year, had reported less than 900 cases and only nine deaths. The nation has now reported more than 9,300 cases and 82 deaths.