The World Health Organization said the number of new coronavirus cases globally rose 7% last week, largely due to rising infections in the Western Pacific, despite a drop in reported deaths from COVID-19.

There were more than 12 million new cases each week and fewer than 33,000 deaths, a 23 percent drop in the death rate, according to the U.N. health agency’s report on the pandemic late Tuesday.

Confirmed virus cases globally have been falling steadily since January, but rose again last week due to the more contagious omicron variant and its sub-variant BA.2 and the suspension of COVID-19 protocols in many countries in Europe, North America and other places.

Health officials have repeatedly said that omicron causes less disease than previous versions of the coronavirus, and that vaccinations, including boosters, appear to be highly protective against severe disease.

The Western Pacific remains the only region in the world to see a rise in coronavirus cases, reporting a 21% increase last week and continuing the increase for several weeks. According to data from last week, the number of new infections in Europe has remained stable and is declining elsewhere.

The WHO has warned that many infections could be missed as many countries abandon broad testing programmes, and new case numbers should be interpreted with caution.

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At a news conference on Wednesday, WHO emergencies director Dr Michael Ryan said that while some countries are seeing exponential spread of COVID-19, caused by the more contagious omicron sub-variant BA.2, the fact that It proved to be less destructive than previous waves of viruses.

“Countries with high rates of vaccinating vulnerable populations are weathering transmission storms,” ??he said. “We’re not seeing this translate into pressure on health systems or higher rates of hospitalization and mortality.”

Many countries, including the UK, France, Italy and Germany, have eased many public health measures against COVID-19 in recent weeks, although numbers continue to edge up. The World Health Organization said that more than 85 percent of the viral sequences shared with one of the world’s largest platforms belonged to the BA.2 sub-variant of omicron.

Last week, UK Health Minister Sajid Javid said UK residents should prepare for a surge in COVID-19 infections, but the country was still “very well-positioned” due to high levels of vaccination.

Meanwhile, Chinese health authorities this week reported their first coronavirus death in more than a year, as the country battles its worst outbreak since the virus was discovered in Wuhan in late 2019.

read more: Powered by invisible omicron, China battles multiple outbreaks

The semi-autonomous city of Hong Kong has also been caught up in a deadly wave of COVID-19, with the city of 7 million recording more deaths than mainland China during the pandemic.

Hong Kong’s chief executive, Carrie Lam, said this week that authorities would consider relaxing some strict epidemic measures as cases began to fall as weeks of rising cases overwhelmed hospitals and cemeteries.