The COVID-19 pandemic continued to grow at an accelerated pace this week in Europe, mainly in the east of the continent, but declined in intensity in other parts of the world, according to a database interpreted by AFP journalists.
Although it is an important indicator, the number of diagnosed cases reflects only a part of the actual number of infections, and comparisons between countries should be made with great caution, as testing policies differ from state to state.
Over 400,000 cases a day
With 432,000 infections registered daily worldwide this week, the indicator rose for the second week in a row (+ 5% from the previous week), according to a report released by AFP on Thursday.
The situation is deteriorating in Europe …
The increase worldwide is mainly due to Europe, where the number of new infections has risen by 14% this week. The epidemiological situation has been deteriorating in Europe for a month and a half.
All the countries with the highest increases in a week (of those with at least 1,000 infections per day) are in Europe and mainly in the east of the continent: the Czech Republic (+ 101%, 4,100 cases per day), Hungary (+ 92%, 2,600), Denmark (+ 80%, 1,500), Poland (+ 70%, 6,100), Croatia (+ 65%, 3,100) and Slovakia (+ 63%, 3,400).
… and is improving in the rest of the world
Outside Europe, the situation is improving in all other regions of the world: -16% of new cases registered in the Middle East, -11% in Africa, -6% in Asia, -3% in Latin America / Caribbean, -2% in Oceania and -1% in the United States / Canada.
Israel (-41%, 700 new cases a day) is the country that recorded the largest decline this week, ahead of Cuba (-36%, 1,200), Syria (-24%, 1,100), the Philippines (-23%, 4,600) and Venezuela (-19%, 1,000).
Most infections
The United States remains by far the country with the highest number of new infections in absolute terms this week (75,100 daily cases, stable level), ahead of the United Kingdom (42,100, -9%) and Russia (37,400, + 10% ).
Compared to national populations, with the exception of micro-states, the countries that reviewed the most new cases this week are the Baltic countries: Latvia (925 per 100,000 inhabitants), Estonia (847) and Lithuania (738).
deaths
The United States also recorded the highest number of daily deaths, 1,471 per day this week, ahead of Russia (1,095) and Ukraine (545).
Worldwide, 7,344 deaths were recorded every day this week, up 6% from the previous week. But this trend is strongly influenced by the growing revision of statistics in India.
Taiwan is vaccinating at an accelerated pace
In terms of vaccination, Taiwan is at the forefront of the podium this week, when it administered doses of anti-COVID-19 serums to 1.67% of its population every day. Next, among the countries with more than 1 million inhabitants, Vietnam (1.22%), Iran (1.18%), Thailand (0.91%), Australia and South Korea (0.84% each), New Zealand (0.73%), Argentina and Peru (0.71%) each) and Brazil (0.69%).
All these countries are in Latin America, Asia and Oceania, a trend observed for several months. Countries in these regions are beginning to regain the distance between them and vaccination champions, located mainly in Europe, North America and the Middle East.
To date, the United Arab Emirates ranks first in the countries with the highest vaccination rates in the world, with 87% of the population fully vaccinated. Followed by Portugal (86%), Singapore (80), Spain (79%), Cambodia (78%), Denmark (76%), Uruguay, Italy, Ireland, Canada and Malaysia (75% each), France and Belgium (74 % every).
