Global daily deaths have declined rapidly over the past month, from about 11,000 a day in the second week of February to about 7,000 a day now, one of the lowest rates recorded in the past year.
But the losses are still huge, with about 1 million deaths recorded in the past four months.
About 1 in every 1,300 people worldwide have died from Covid-19 since the start of the pandemic, and experts say the official death toll is likely an underestimate.
World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus tweeted Sunday that it was “too early to declare victory” over Covid-19.
“Many countries are facing high rates of hospitalization and death. With high transmission, the threat of a new, more dangerous variant remains real. We urge all people to exercise caution and all governments to stay the course,” he said.
The United States has recorded more Covid-19 deaths than any other country — about 960,000 in total — but the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates the true national death toll is about 32% higher.
Along with the US, Brazil, Russia and Mexico have reported the highest number of deaths from Covid-19 since the start of the pandemic.
On Wednesday, the World Health Organization in its weekly epidemiological report noted that deaths are declining in most regions of the world, but rising in both the Western Pacific and the Eastern Mediterranean compared to a week earlier.
The Western Pacific also reported an increase in cases over the past week.
There are 446 million cases of Covid-19 in the world so far, according to JHU.
About 57% of the world’s population – more than 4.4 billion people – are fully vaccinated with their initial series, according to Our World in Data. But this varies greatly from country to country. Less than 14% of people in low-income countries have received at least one dose of the Covid-19 vaccine.