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| - The coronavirus pandemic has continued to ravage with world over the past week, with a sharp spike in infections in Africa and Latin America, according to a specialised AFP database. Here is the state of play: Africa has seen the sharpest weekly increase, of 19 percent, followed by Latin America and the Caribbean (11 percent up) and the United States and Canada (up eight percent). Europe is the region which recorded the most new infections at 245,948 new daily cases, an increase of four percent, having stabilised at a high level the previous week. The pandemic continues to wane in the Middle East -- with 16 percent less new cases -- and in Asia, where they are down more than a tenth. The rate of infections has soared by 77 percent in Oceania, but to only 25 cases per day. Overall globally, there were on average 652,423 new cases recorded every day, or five percent more, according to an AFP tally on Friday at 1100 GMT. 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. South Africa tops the table with the biggest weekly increase, with 56 percent more cases, or 8,007 more per day (of countries which have recorded more than 1,000 daily cases over the past week). Denmark follows with 52 percent more (3,334 cases), Spain (48 percent, 9,338), Israel (48 percent, 2,230), the United Kingdom (42 percent, 22,982) and the Czech Republic (42 percent, 5,582). The biggest fall in new cases came in Iran, with 30 percent less, or 7,930 cases, before Georgia with 28 percent less, or 3,202 cases, Iraq (26 percent less, 1,314), Bulgaria (- 25 percent or 2,108) and Jordan (-24 percent, 2,384). The US recorded by far the greatest number of new daily cases this week, with 228,049, an increase of nine percent, before Brazil, with 12 percent. The US also recorded the most deaths over the past week with an average of 2,605 per day, followed by Brazil (723), Italy (656), Mexico (594) and Russia (553). The pandemic has killed at least 1.66 million people around the world since it first emerged last December, out of nearly 75 million confirmed cases. The US has had the most deaths overall with 310,792, before Brazil with 184,827 and India 144,789. ber/jmy/fg/ach
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