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- Across the world, Covid-19 cases continue to rise.
- The number of cases has increased by 14%.
- The number of cases may only reflect a fraction of the actual number.
The number of new Covid-19 cases continued to rise around the world again this week, but remained far from the record high reached in early January, according to AFP data.
Here is the world situation:
The number of new cases increased 14 percent worldwide, to 465,300 on average every day, according to an AFP tally as of Thursday.
The increase confirms an upward trend that began a month ago, after an unprecedented drop at the beginning of the year, when the number of new cases was cut in half.
Despite the spike in recent weeks, the number of infections is still far from the record 743,600 new cases in the week of Jan.5-11.
The number of confirmed cases only reflects a fraction of the actual number of infections, as different countries have different counting practices and levels of testing.
Africa and the Middle East were alone this week as the number of new cases stabilized. All other regions experienced increases, led by Asia with 34 percent, 18 percent in Europe, 15 percent in the United States and Canada, and 5 percent in Latin America and the Caribbean.
The number of new cases skyrocketed in Oceania by 75 percent due to an increase in Papua New Guinea. Covid-19 is largely absent from the rest of the region.
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At the country level, Bangladesh is the country where the epidemic is picking up speed, with 92 percent more new cases, or 1,500 per day, among nations that recorded more than 1,000 daily cases in the past week.
It is followed by Moldova with 78 percent, or 1,800 more cases, Ukraine (55 percent, 11,200 cases), Pakistan (52 percent more, or 2,600 cases) and the Philippines (52 percent, 4,800).
The biggest decline this week was in Israel, the country that has led the world’s most advanced vaccination campaign, and where the number of new cases fell by 44 percent to 1,700 a day.
The other countries that recorded the biggest drops are the United Arab Emirates (minus 24 percent, 1,900 cases), Malaysia (20 percent fewer or 1,300 cases), Mexico (19 percent fewer or 4,500 cases) and Kuwait (minus 17 percent). hundred, 1,100 cases). .
Brazil recorded the highest number of new cases and deaths this week with 71,900 new infections, a four percent increase, and 2,087 deaths per day.
It is followed by the United States, which had 64,500 cases, an increase of 15 percent and 1,242 deaths per day.
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In terms of cases, France recorded 27,300 per day or 24 percent more, India 27,000, an increase of 47 percent and Italy 22,500, or five percent more.
In per capita terms, Estonia is the country that registered the most cases this week, with 760 per 100,000 inhabitants.
In terms of deaths, Mexico follows Brazil and the United States with 495 deaths, Russia (441) and Italy (382).
Globally, the death toll increased by two percent this week to 8,800 a day, a level still far from the death toll at the end of January, when victims were close to 15,000 a day.
