The two African countries still battling Ebola have both recorded weekly infections in single figures for the first time since the peak of the epidemic, the United Nations said on Tuesday.

Guinea and Sierra Leone each reported nine new cases in the seven days up to Sunday, in sharp contrast to six months ago, when the government in Freetown was registering upwards of 500 weekly infections and its neighbour was also going into triple figures.

The UN Ebola envoy David Nabarro said it was the first time since June last year that the total weekly infections across both countries had dipped below 20.

“Guinea has never been massively high but this is extraordinary progress,” Nabarro told reporters in Senegalese capital Dakar.

“For those of us involved in this we’ve got used to having good news one week and bad news the next week, so we’re not starting to celebrate yet, but we are feeling positive.”