Coronavirus pandemic slows for third week

The coronavirus pandemic slowed down for a third week in a row around the world.

Here is the global state of play based on an AFP database.

– Slowing down –

The number of new daily cases decreased by six percent globally to 555,000 according to an AFP tally to Thursday.

The pandemic had gained ground since mid-June fanned by the highly contagious Delta variant which has become predominant in most countries. But for three weeks now it has been in decline. 

However, the confirmed cases only reflect a fraction of the actual number of infections, with varying counting practices and levels of testing in different countries.

– Drop in most regions –

The situation improved in most regions of the world this week, with a 20 percent drop in the number of cases in Asia, a 14 percent drop in Africa and the Middle East, 13 percent fewer in Latin America and the Caribbean and four percent fewer in Europe.

However, the number of cases increased by 12 percent in the United States and Canada and by three percent in Oceania, where the number of cases nevertheless remained small.

– Biggest spikes –

Botswana saw the biggest spike in the number of new cases, with a 97 percent increase. Romania followed with an 85 percent increase, Lithuania (54 percent more), Ukraine (53 percent more) and Serbia (50 percent more).

– Biggest drops –

At the other end of the spectrum, Japan saw the biggest drop with a 44 percent decrease in the number of cases, followed by Indonesia (37 percent fewer), South Africa (35 percent fewer), Morocco (33 percent fewer) and Argentina (32 percent fewer).

– US has most infections –

The US remained by far the country with the biggest number of new cases, with 170,000 per day, an increase of 12 percent, followed by India with 29,600 cases, a decrease of 26 percent, and the United Kingdom with 29,600, a decrease of 23 percent.

On a per capita basis the country that recorded the most new cases this week was Israel with 760 cases per 100,000 inhabitants, followed by Serbia with 637 and Mongolia 588.

– … And most deaths –

The US also mourned the biggest number of deaths with 2,206 per day followed by Russia with 780 and Mexico with 600.

At a global level the number of daily deaths slightly increased by one percent to 9,171.

– Vaccinations –

With its homegrown three-dose vaccine, Cuba led the vaccination race this week among countries with more than one million inhabitants, inoculating 2.15 percent of its population every day.

Iran followed with 1.51 percent, South Korea (1.49 percent), New Zealand (1.20 percent) and Kosovo (1.08 percent).

Even though they are vaccinating more slowly, the United Arab Emirates has the most advanced vaccination drive, having administered 195 first or second doses per 100 inhabitants.

It is followed by Uruguay with 172, Israel 169, Qatar (161), Chile and Singapore (152), and Portugal (151). China announced on Thursday that it had completely vaccinated more than one billion people.