Coronavirus updates: CDC forecasts up to 226K US deaths by mid-October

Africa has seen a steady decline in the number of new COVID-19 cases being reported across the continent since July 20, the World Health Organization said Thursday.

Over the past four weeks, there were 77,147 new cases recorded in Africa, down from 131,647 reported in the previous four weeks. Some of the continent's most-affected countries including Algeria, Cameroon, Cote d’Ivoire, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Madagascar, Nigeria, Senegal and South Africa have all seen infections drop every week over the past two months. Deaths attributed to COVID-19 have also remained low in the region.

Africa was the only region in the world to report a decline in both new COVID-19 cases and deaths for the week of Sept. 14-20.

The WHO credited the decline to "a variety of socio-ecological factors as well as early and strong public health measures taken by governments across the region." The socio-ecological factors include low population density and mobility, hot and humid climate and lower age group.

"The downward trend that we have seen in Africa over the past two months is undoubtedly a positive development and speaks to the robust and decisive public health measures taken by governments across the region," Dr. Matshidiso Moeti, the WHO's regional director for Africa, said in a statement Thursday. "But we must not become complacent. Other regions of the world have experienced similar trends only to find that as social and public health measures are relaxed, cases start ramping up again."

Africa's COVID-19 cases have largely been among a younger age group and more pronounced in a few nations rather than continent-wide, suggesting country-specific aspects are driving the pattern of disease and death. About 91% of infections in sub-Saharan Africa are among people below the age of 60, while over 80% of cases are asymptomatic, according to the WHO.

Although African governments have made efforts to improve COVID-19 testing, the level remains low. Nevertheless, the WHO said missed COVID-19 cases are largely because they are asymptomatic and that there is no evidence of miscalculation of death figures.

"Africa has not witnessed an exponential spread of COVID-19 as many initially feared," Moeti said. "But the slower spread of infection in the region means we expect the pandemic to continue to smolder for some time, with occasional flare-ups."

Russia confirmed 6,595 new cases of COVID-19 over the last 24 hours, the country’s highest single-day increase since July.

An additional 149 coronavirus-related deaths were also recorded in the past day, according to Russia’s coronavirus response headquarters.

Meanwhile, Moscow reported more than 1,000 new cases over the last 24 hours for the first time since June. The Russian capital also registered 15 new deaths.

Russia’s cumulative total now stands at over 1.12 million confirmed cases -- the fourth highest caseload in the world -- and nearly 20,000 deaths.

Last month, Russia became the first country in the world to officially register a COVID-19 vaccine and declare it ready for use. The Russian government approved the vaccine before completing its final Phase III trial, and no scientific data has been released from the early trials so far.

ABC News' Alina Lobzina contributed to this report.

Another 870,000 Americans filed for first-time unemployment benefits last week, the U.S. Department of Labor said Thursday.

While the number of people filing for unemployment insurance in the United States has stagnated in recent weeks, the latest figure shows a concerning uptick of 4,000 compared with the previous week's revised figure. It is also the 27th straight week of historically high weekly jobless claims.

Despite the number falling significantly since March, when 6.9 million people applied for unemployment benefits in a single week, the latest figure also shows that workers are continuing to be laid off at an unprecedented rate some six months into the coronavirus pandemic.

More than 26 million Americans are still receiving some sort of unemployment insurance benefits as of the week ending Sept. 5, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. For the same period last year, that figure was 1.5 million.

ABC News' Catherine Thorbecke and Zunaira Zaki contributed to this report.

Swiss authorities have ordered a quarantine for the entire undergraduate student population of a prestigious hospitality management school after "significant outbreaks" of COVID-19.

Health officials in Switzerland's Vaud canton, or region, announced Wednesday that all 2,500 undergraduate students at the "Ecole hoteliere de Lausanne" (EHL) must self-quarantine until at least Monday, whether they live on- or off-campus. Those who develop symptoms are advised to get tested for COVID-19, if necessary.

"Significant outbreaks of infection have appeared in several levels of training, making it impossible to close more targeted than that of the 2,500 students concerned," health officials said in a statement, adding that student parties are suspected to "be at the origin of these numerous outbreaks of infection."

Classes will continue online in the meantime.

Health officials said the school's administrators are taking "all the necessary measures" to ensure that learning isn't disrupted and to reinforce health measures on campus.

The parties in question took place just before the enforcement of coronavirus-related measures announced by regional authorities on Sept. 15, according to a spokesperson for the school, Sherif Mamdouh.

In a statement obtained by ABC News on Thursday, Mamdouh said that the school is "working closely" with regional health authorities "to provide best possible support to the contaminated students, who have so far reported only minor symptoms." Remote learning courses had already been imposed for all undergraduate students from Sept. 21-28, according to Mamdouh.

"EHL had prepared contingencies plans over the summer, and had put in place a hybrid and flexible learning infrastructure, which allows EHL to control population density almost in real time and ensure continuity of the academic program," Mamdouh said in the statement. "An important system has been put in place on campus to ensure the highest health standards and to limit the spread of the virus as much as possible."

Since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, Switzerland's Federal Office of Public Health has reported at least 51,492 confirmed cases of COVID-19, with 4,809 hospitalizations and 1,776 deaths.