The number of coronavirus deaths fell 9% in the past week while new cases remained relatively stable, according to the latest weekly pandemic report released by the World Health Organization.

The UN health agency said on Wednesday there were more than 14,000 Covid-19 deaths in the past week and nearly 7 million new infections.

The number of new deaths rose 19% in the Middle East, while dropping more than 70% in Africa, 15% in Europe and 10% in the Americas.

The western Pacific reported a 30% jump in cases while Africa reported a 46% drop. Cases also fell more than 20% in the Americas and the Middle East.

The WHO cautioned that its assessment of Covid-19 trends remains compromised by countries dropping many of their testing, surveillance and sequencing efforts as most countries have relaxed pandemic controls.

The World Health Organization (WHO) said the Omicron subvariant BA.5 remains dominant globally, accounting for nearly 70% of all virus sequences shared with the world’s biggest publicly available virus database. The agency said other Omicron subvariants, including BA.4 and BA.2, appeared to be decreasing in prevalence as BA.5 takes over.