PARIS: The weekly number of coronavirus deaths worldwide has fallen to levels unseen for almost a year, according to an AFP count on Monday based on official national figures.

The 53,245 deaths recorded worldwide between September 27 and October 3, an average of 7,606 each day, showed that the global pandemic continues the downward trend that began at the end of August, after a peak of around 10,000 deaths per day.

The new weekly death toll figure is the lowest recorded since Oct 31-November 6, 2020.

Over the last month the number of Covid-19 related deaths has fallen by almost a quarter, as vaccination campaigns make progress.

After a year of Coronavirus waves, linked in particular to the spread of variants including the more contagious Delta strain, the curve of new cases is also down, by almost a third compared to the end of August.

With nearly 81 doses of anti-Covid-19 vaccine administered per 100 inhabitants worldwide, according to an AFP count, the authorities hope to see this decline continue, even if there are still major disparities between regions.

Coronavirus toll at 1000 GMT Monday

For every 100 residents of North America 123 vaccines doses have been administered. The figure for Africa is 11 doses per 100 people, with half the nations on the continent managing to fully vaccinate just two percent of their people, according to the World Health Organization's Africa office.

Since the virus was first discovered in China in late 2019, around 4.8 million people have died of Covid-19 around the world.

The WHO has said that taking into account excess mortality directly and indirectly linked to Covid-19 the pandemic's true overall toll could be two to three times higher than official records.