Geneva, (AP): The number of new COVID-19 cases continued to fall last week, with 3.6 million new cases reported globally, down from 4 million new infections the previous week, the World Health Organization said.

Last week's drop marked the first substantial decline for more than two months, with falling COVID-19 cases in every world region.

In its latest update on the pandemic released on Tuesday, WHO said there were major decreases in cases in two regions: a 22 per cent fall in the Middle East and a 16 per cent drop in Southeast Asia.

The UN health agency said there were just under 60,000 deaths in the past week, a 7 per cent decline. It said that while Southeast Asia reported a 30 per cent decrease in COVID-19 deaths, the Western Pacific region reported a 7 per cent increase.

The most coronavirus cases were seen in the U.S., India, Britain, Turkey and the Philippines. WHO said the faster-spreading delta variant has now been seen in 185 countries and is present in every part of the world.

The organisation also revised its list of variants of interest, or those that it believes have the potential to cause big outbreaks; WHO said it's tracking the lambda and mu variants, which both arose in Latin America but have yet to cause widespread epidemics.

WHO has previously said that in all countries where the delta variant is circulating, it has become the predominant virus.

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Lucknow, Apr 19: Fifties by skipper KL Rahul and Quinton de Kock helped Lucknow Super Giants to beat Chennai Super Kings by eight wickets in their Indian Premier League match here on Friday.

Rahul (82, 53b, 9x4, 3x6) and De Kock (54, 43b, 5x4, 1x6), who added 134 runs for the opening wicket, played pivotal roles as LSG raced past the target of 177 in 19 overs.

Earlier, CSK rode on a controlled fifty by Ravindra Jadeja to reach 176 for six.

Apart from Jadeja (57 not out, 40b, 5x4, 1x6), Ajinkya Rahane (36, 24b, 5x4, 1x6), Moeen Ali (30, 20b, 3x6) and MS Dhoni (28 not out, 9b, 3x4, 2x6) too chipped in with handy contributions after CSK were asked to bat first.

For LSG, Krunal Pandya was the most successful bowler (2/16).

Brief scores:

Chennai Super Kings: 176/6 in 20 overs (Ravindra Jadeja 57 not out, Ajinkya Rahane 36, Moeen Ali 30, MS Dhoni 28 not out; Krunal Pandya 2/16).

Lucknow Super Giants: 180/2 in 19 overs (KL Rahul 82, Quinton de Kock 54).