Pandemic slows in Asia and Europe but PH has one of world’s highest spikes

The pandemic slowed for the fifth week in a row around the world, especially in Europe and Asia, including in India, which nevertheless continued to bear the brunt.

Here is the global state of play according to a specialised AFP database.

– 15 percent drop –
The number of new daily Covid-19 cases around the globe dropped by 15 percent over the week, according to an AFP toll to Thursday.

The number of confirmed cases only reflects a fraction of the actual number of infections, with different countries also having varying counting practices and levels of testing.

– Plunge in Asia, Europe –
The pandemic slowed markedly in Asia, where the number of daily infections dropped 28 percent. In Europe they fell 13 percent.

The biggest decrease was seen in Sweden, where new cases dropped by 36 percent, followed by Nepal (minus 35 percent), India (minus 33 percent), Bahrein (32 percent), Italy (31 percent), Ukraine (30 percent) and Japan (minus 29 percent).

The pandemic also slowed in the United States and Canada, which saw 28 percent fewer cases, and the situation improved in the Middle East by six percent.

However the number of cases rose by just over half in Oceania, by 18 percent in Africa and five percent in Latin America and the Caribbean.

– Afghan, British cases soar –
On a country basis, Afghanistan was the country where the epidemic accelerated most with a mighty 86 percent more cases in a week.

The United Kingdom followed with 42 percent more, Bolivia 41 percent more, and Mexico and the Philippines (both 35 percent more).

– India has most new cases –
Although the number of new infections slowed officially in India, it continued to suffer the highest caseload with 153,300 a day.

It is widely believed that India’s death and infection rate is largely under reported.

Brazil followed with 65,900, or three percent more cases a day, Argentina (31,600, two percent more), Colombia (24,100, 19 percent more) and the US (16,000, 29 percent fewer).

On a per capita basis, the countries that recorded the most cases this week remained the Maldives (1,151 per 100,000 habitants), Bahrein (897) and Uruguay (692).

– …And the most deaths –
India also continued to mourn the most deaths, with 3,300 per day this week, followed by Brazil (1,800), Mexico (815), Argentina (530) and Colombia (520).

At the world level the number of deaths dropped five percent to 11,165 per day.

However, the World Health Organization believes that as many as three times more people have died because of the pandemic than official figures suggest.

Agence France-Presse

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