GENEVA, Sep 14 (AFP) - The number of newly reported COVID-19 cases has dropped dramatically, the World Health Organization said on Wednesday (Sep 14), urging the world to seize the opportunity to end the pandemic.

Newly reported cases of the disease, which has killed millions since being identified in late 2019, last week fell to the lowest level since March 2020, said WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

"We have never been in a better position to end the pandemic," he told reporters. "We are not there yet, but the end is in sight."

But the world needed to step up to "seize this opportunity", he added.

"If we don't take this opportunity now, we run the risk of more variants, more deaths, more disruption, and more uncertainty."

According to WHO's latest epidemiological report on COVID-19, the number of reported cases fell 28 per cent to 3.1 million during the week ending Sep 11, following a 12-per cent drop a week earlier.