The global decrease in the number of new emerging cases of COVID-19 suggests that the virus can be controlled despite its mutations, Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO) Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said.

On Friday, the WHO chief warned against coronavirus vaccine hoarding, saying it could lead to slow global economic recovery and most importantly a never-ending pandemic.

Tedros warned governments against opening up too quickly, as that could enable the coronavirus to come back in full strength. He said governments need to make appropriate adjustments, such as making quarantine measures easier to adhere to.

"For the third week in a row, the number of new cases of #COVID19 reported globally fell last week. There are still many countries with increasing numbers of cases, but at the global level, this is encouraging news," Tedros said at a Monday briefing, adding "It shows this virus can be controlled, even with the new variants in circulation."

"Controlling the spread of the COVID19 virus saves lives now, and saves lives later by reducing the chances of more variants emerging. And it helps to ensure vaccines remain effective," Tedros said.

Since the start of the pandemic last year, more than 103 million coronavirus cases have been confirmed worldwide, with over 2.2 million fatalities, according to Johns Hopkins University.

Protests against tough coronavirus restrictions have been held in various countries as businesses are slow to recover and people are struggling amid deteriorating economic conditions.

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