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As Europe sees its number of COVID-19 infections continue to rise, here is a weekly roundup of world developments in the coronavirus crisis:
On the increase in Europe
Europe has over the past seven days again seen the biggest increase in infections, with 10 percent more compared with the previous week, according to a tally established by AFP on Friday at 1100 GMT.
Its number of new daily cases has more than quadrupled in three months, to hit 63,600 this week, compared with around 15,000 in early July.
Cases are also on the rise in the Middle East, which has five percent more than the previous week, in Oceania (five percent more) and the United States and Canada (one percent).
However, the infection rate is slowing down in Africa (- 7 percent), Asia (- 5 percent) and in Latin America and the Caribbean (- 3 percent).
At the world level the pandemic stabilised this week, with 295,000 new cases per day.
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.
Biggest increases
Poland saw the biggest increase in infections, with 71 percent more, or 1,500 new cases per day, among those countries which registered more than 1,000 daily cases over the past week.
The Netherlands follows with an increase of 43 percent, or 2,800 cases, Canada (40 percent, 1,600 cases), Lebanon (34 percent, 1,200), Russia (29 percent, 8,100) and Britain (26 percent, 6,300).
However, the situation has stabilised in the Czech Republic (-2 percent, 2,200) and France (-2 percent, 11,500), following a deterioration over the past few weeks.
Biggest drops
The biggest drops in infections came in Peru, (- 24 percent, 4,200 new cases per day), in South Africa (- 21 percent, 1,300), in Ecuador (- 16 percent, 1,100), the Philippines (- 15 percent, 2,500) and Costa Rica (- 15 percent, 1,100).
Most infections
India, the United States and Brazil registered the biggest number of new infections this week, with 82,900, 43,300 and 27,100 respectively.
The situation is stable in the United States, but is improving in India (- 6 percent) and Brazil (-6 percent). Argentina follows with 12,400, or 13 percent more, France (11,500, - 2 percent) and Spain 10,600, - 5 percent).
On a per capita basis, Israel had by far the most cases in the past week, with 445 for 100,000 inhabitants, ahead of Bahrain (226), and Argentina (192).
Deaths
India has recorded the most deaths over the past week at 1,076 per day, before the United States (726), Brazil (696), Mexico (377), Iran (195) and Colombia (182).
Global toll
The pandemic has killed at least 1,024,093 people around the world since emerging in China in late 2019, out of more than 34.3 million cases officially diagnosed.
The United States has suffered the most deaths, with 207,816, followed by Brazil with 144,680, India with 99,773, Mexico with 78,078, and Britain with 42,202.
© 2020 AFP
