GENEVA, December 23. /TASS/. New global coronavirus cases rose by 52% between November 20 and December 17 compared to the previous four weeks, the World Health Organization (WHO) said in a statement.

"The number of reported cases has increased while deaths have decreased during the 28-day period, with over 850,000 new cases and over 3,000 new deaths, an increase of 52% and a decrease of 8%, respectively, compared to the previous 28 days (October 23 to November 19, 2023)," the statement reads.

The majority of new cases were recorded in Russia (279,359), which is followed by Singapore (120,898), Italy (114,795), Poland (39,828) and Australia (39,505). Italy reported the most fatalities at 510. Next come Sweden (396), Russia (376), Australia (211) and Poland (141).

The COVID-19 public health emergency was declared in late January 2020 and expired on May 5, 2023. On March 11, 2020, the WHO described the outbreak of the new coronavirus as a pandemic. According to the WHO, a total of 771,549,718 coronavirus cases and 6,974,473 deaths were recorded worldwide as of October 25, 2023. However, WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said at a briefing in Geneva on May 5 that the real number of deaths was at least 20 mln.