The number of weekly new COVID-19 infections reported globally dropped for the fifth consecutive time last week, the World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom said, underscoring that "simple public health measures work, even in the presence of variants".

"Last week saw the lowest number of reported weekly cases since October", said the WHO chief at a press briefing in Geneva on Monday.

He however stressed the need to continue adhering to the health protocols in efforts to reach even lower figures of new infections.

"If we stop fighting it on any front, it will come roaring back," he said.

The decline in new weekly infections comes as countries around the world continue to roll out mass vaccinations programs.

On Monday, WHO gave the green light for two versions of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine to be rolled out globally under an emergency listing.

Tedros reiterated the need to scale-up production along with his call for vaccine developers to send their dossiers to WHO for review when they submit them to regulators in high-income countries.

By Tuesday, the number of COVID-19 infections globally had surpassed the 109.24 million ark with a death toll exceeding 2.41 million, according to data from the Johns Hopkins University.