Across most of the world the pandemic has been in decline this week. Here is the global state of play based on an AFP database.
Daily cases drop under 600,000
The number of new daily cases around the world decreased by eight percent this week to 589,900, 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 two 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.
Down in most regions
The situation has improved in most regions worldwide, with a 21 percent decline in daily cases in Africa and a drop of 15 percent in the Middle East.
It is down nine percent in both Asia and the United States/Canada region, and fell eight percent in Latin America and the Caribbean.
The pandemic is stabilising in Europe while Oceania saw a 17 percent increase, though the virus is circulating relatively little in this region.
Biggest spikes
Serbia was the country where the epidemic picked up most speed, with 64 percent more daily cases. Romania followed with 51 percent more, Syria with 36 percent, Mongolia (33 percent more) and Australia (32 percent more).
Biggest drops
At the other end of the spectrum, Kosovo saw the biggest drop with 40 percent fewer new daily cases. Spain was down 36 percent, Georgia 35 percent, Azerbaijan and Japan both 34 percent.
US has most infections
The US continued to record the most new infections by far, with 151,400 a day, a decrease of nine percent.
India followed with 40,300, a decrease of six percent and the United Kingdom 38,500, a 15 percent increase.
On a per capita basis the country that recorded the most new cases this week was Mongolia with 795 per 100,000 inhabitants, followed by Israel (621) and Montenegro (576).
… And most reported deaths
The US also recorded the most daily deaths with 1,562, ahead of Russia (795) and Mexico (665).
At a global level the number of daily deaths dropped for the second week running, to 9,047 per day, a six percent decrease.
Vaccinations
South Korea led the vaccination race this week among countries with more than one million inhabitants, jabbing 1.43 percent of its population every day.
It was followed by Cuba and New Zealand (both 1.42 percent), Sri Lanka (1.32 percent), Panama (1.13 percent), Australia (1.03 percent), Malaysia (0.97 percent) and Japan (0.95 percent).
Even though they are vaccinating more slowly, the United Arab Emirates has the most advanced vaccination drive, having administered 189 first or second doses per 100 inhabitants. Israel has jabbed 166, Singapore 151 and Chile 149.
