COVID cases, deaths down globally, but numbers carry 'considerable uncertainty'

The global tally of COVID-19 cases has dropped for the second week in a row, with confirmed coronavirus deaths also falling last week, the World Health Organization reported Wednesday, per The Associated Press.

Nine million cases, "a 16 percent weekly decline," and more than 26,000 deaths were reported in this latest update, AP writes, according to the WHO. Confirmed infections are down "in all regions of the world."

That said, the agency warned that the updated numbers "carry considerable uncertainty" — given a number of countries have halted widespread testing measures, there are likely many cases going undetected, AP writes.

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The WHO is also monitoring an Omicron variant comprised of two different subvariants — BA.1 and BA. 2 — which the agency said could be approximately 10 percent more transmissible than previous mutations, though data is still coming in.

Meanwhile, the U.K. has reported record levels of COVID-19 infection across the country, and China's Shanghai is still in lockdown after another surge in infections. Read more at The Associated Press.