COVID cases down in Americas but Omicron subvariants driving new infections -PAHO

FILE PHOTO: Healthcare workers register people to be tested for the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) as Peru raised its pandemic alert level in various cities and tightened some restrictions due, to a third wave of infections caused by the spread of the Omicron variant, in Lima, Peru January 6, 2022. REUTERS/Angela Ponce/File Photo

The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) on Wednesday warned of the growing number of COVID-19 cases caused by the highly infectious BA.4 and BA.5 Omicron subvariants of the coronavirus even as overall cases dipped in the Americas.

There were 1,562,967 new COVID-19 cases in the Americas last week, a 0.9% decrease, PAHO said at a news conference, while deaths fell 3.5% to 4,789.