A volunteer dressed as Yamraj the Hindu lord of death and justice, roams around the streets creating awareness to follow the Covid-19 coronavirus safety protocols while also distributing face-masks and hand sanitisers to people in Siliguri on May 14, 2021. (Photo by DIPTENDU DUTTA / AFP)
The coronavirus pandemic slowed its pace around the world for a second week in a row, despite raging cases in India where more than 4,000 people died every day.
Here is the global state of play according to a specialised AFP database.
Six percent drop
The number of new daily cases of Covid-19 around the world dropped by six percent last week to 743,900, according to an AFP toll to Thursday.
The pandemic slowed markedly in the United States and Canada, where there were 21 percent less cases, in Europe, where cases dropped by 20 percent and in the Middle East where there was a 16 percent decrease.
The decrease was more timid in Asia, where cases dropped by just two percent and in Africa where the decrease was just one percent.
The number of new cases however increased by five percent in Latin America and the Caribbean.
In Oceania, where there are very few cases, the number nevertheless more than doubled by 124 percent, or 247 infections per day, mainly down to Papua New Guinea, which accounted for more than nine tenths of the region’s cases.
Main spikes
On a country level, the Maldives is where the epidemic is picking up most speed, with 106 percent, or 1,100 new cases per day, among the countries which have recorded at least 1,000 daily infections over the past week.
Yet the Indian Ocean archipelago is one of the most advanced countries for vaccinations, having given at least one dose of Sinopharm or AstraZeneca to 56 percent of its population and more than a quarter has been given two doses.
Paraguay is the next country to register the highest spikes, with 53 percent more cases or 2,600, followed by South Africa (37 percent more or 2,100), Malaysia (31 percent more or 4,300) and Greece (30 percent more or 2,300).
The number of confirmed cases only reflects a fraction of the actual number of infections, as different countries have varying counting practics and levels of testing.
Biggest drops
The biggest declines in cases were in Turkey, where there was a 44 percent fall or 15,100 new cases per day, followed by Mongolia (minus 42 percent or 700 cases), Jordan (41 percent less or 700 cases), Croatia (minus 35 percent or 1,000) and Austria (minus 31 percent or 1,100 cases).
Most cases
India remains the country with the biggest number of new cases, at 375,200 per day, a decrease of three percent over the week.
Brazil follows with 61,500, or four percent more cases, the US with 35,600, or 22 percent less, Argentina with 20,900, or four percent more and Colombia 16,700, or seven percent more.
On a per capita basis the country which by far recorded the most cases this week was the Seychelles which saw 2,858 cases per 100,000 inhabitants, and this despite having fully vaccinated 61 percent of its population.
– India has heaviest toll –
India also mourned the most daily deaths with 4,001 per day this week, ahead of Brazil (1,948), the US (628), Colombia (464) and Argentina (420).
At world level the number of deaths slightly dropped this week by one percent to 12,721.