After two months of improvement, the coronavirus pandemic took a turn for the worse this week around the world, fuelled by deteriorating situations in Europe and the United States.

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

On the march again

The number of new daily cases increased slightly by two per cent globally to 410,654, according to an AFP tally.

There were however wide disparities between regions.

The pandemic had been slowing down since late August but has gained new ground, especially in parts of Central and Eastern Europe, whose vaccination drive is less advanced than the rest of the continent. 

Cases have also soared in the United Kingdom which has lifted almost all its health restrictions.

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.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson holds a vial of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine as doses are prepared at a Covid-19 vaccination centre at Little Venice Sports Centre in London on October 22, 2021. Photo: AFP

Europe worrying

This week the situation deteriorated sharply in Europe, with a 16 per cent increase in the number of newly recorded cases. Infections were up two per cent in the Middle East. 

But in other regions of the world, the pandemic continued to slow down, with 16 per cent fewer cases in Asia, 13 per cent fewer in Africa, the United States and Canada and four per cent less in Latin America and the Caribbean.

According to the World Health Organization, the real number of cases in Africa is seven times higher than official figures, due to lack of testing.

Deaths on the rise

At a global level, there was also an upturn in the number of daily deaths, which increased by two per cent to 6,905 per day.

The rise was driven by a 10 per cent spike in Europe and nine per cent increase in mortalities in the US and Canada.

However, there was a 17 per cent downturn in the number of deaths in Asia.

The US recorded the biggest number of deaths per day, at 1,703, followed by Russia with 1,011, with Romania coming in third place with 389.

Biggest spikes

Syria saw the biggest spike in the number of new cases, with an increase of 153 per cent.

But regionally the biggest increases this week were mainly in Europe, with a 95 per cent increase in the Czech Republic, 80 per cent in Hungary and 78 per cent in Poland.

Biggest drops

At the other end of the spectrum, Cuba with 38 per cent fewer cases, saw the biggest drop, followed by the Philippines (36 per cent less), Guatemala (28 per cent less), Myanmar (27 per cent less) and Mexico (down by a quarter).

The US is ready to start vaccinating children aged 5-11 against Covid-19 starting in November, once health experts give the green light, the White House said on October 20, 2021. File photo: AFP

US most infections

The US remained by far the country with the biggest number of new cases, with 75,442 per day, a decrease of 13 per cent. It was followed by the United Kingdom with 46,255 and Russia with 34,026.

On a per-capita basis, the country that recorded the newest cases this week was Latvia with 846 cases per 100,000 habitants followed by Georgia (771) and Lithuania (686).