World Health Organization Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus informed on Wednesday Covid-19 deaths fell to their lowest level in almost a year last week at nearly 50,000 fatalities.

“It’s still an unacceptably high level, almost 50,000 deaths a week," Tedros said. “And the real number is certainly higher."

Tedros urged countries and companies controlling the supply of COVID-19 vaccines to prioritise supply to the vaccine sharing programme COVAX in order to meet vaccination targets.

"We're working with leaders to support the prioritisation and planning that's needed to make 40% coverage a reality with aggressive and ambitious action," he said.

WHo said on Wednesday its newly formed advisory group on dangerous pathogens may be "our last chance" to determine the origins of the SARS-CoV-2 virus and called for cooperation from China.

The first human cases of COVID-19 were reported in the central Chinese city of Wuhan in December 2019. China has repeatedly dismissed theories that the virus leaked from one of its laboratories and has said no more visits are needed.

A WHO-led team spent four weeks in and around Wuhan earlier this year with Chinese scientists, and said in a joint report in March that the virus had probably been transmitted from bats to humans through another animal but further research was needed.