Nearly three million Covid-19 cases and more than 55,000 deaths were registered this past week worldwide by experts of the World Health Organization (WHO).
The incidence rate rose by 10% compared with the previous seven days, and the mortality rate increased by 3%, the WHO headquarters in Geneva reported on Wednesday.
The overall number of new Covid-19 cases last week (from July 5 to July 11) reached nearly 3 million, some 10% more compared with the previous week, according to the weekly epidemiological bulletin.
Over the past week, over 55,000 people died, or 3% more than in the previous seven days. Before that the mortality rate had been declining for more than 2 months.
On July 5-11, as many as 2,996,465 Covid-19 cases were registered worldwide and 55,830 deaths were confirmed. As of July 11, a total of 186,240,393 Covid-19 cases and 4,027,861 deaths were recorded.
Most new Covid-19 cases over the past week were reported in Brazil (333,030), as well as in India (291,789), Indonesia (243,119), the United Kingdom (210, 277) and Colombia (174, 320).
The biggest incidence rate was registered in the British Virgin Islands (2,497 new cases per 100,000 citizens), in Seychelles (763), Cyprus (673), Jersey (628) and Fiji (490).
The incidence rate dropped over the past week in the Americas (by 3%), while it increased in the Eastern Mediterranean Region (by 25%), in Europe (by 20%), in Southeast Asia (by 16%), in the Western Pacific Region (by 15%) and in Africa (by 5%).
The mortality rate surged in Africa (by 50%) and in Southeast Asia (by 26%). A notable decline in fatalities was seen in the Americas (11%).
According to the WHO bulletin, the highly contagious Delta variant of Covid-19, which was first discovered in India in October 2020, has been detected in 111 countries.
The pandemic has killed at least 4,066,041 and infected over 188,626,800 people since the virus first emerged in December 2019, according to an AFP compilation of official data.
Australia: Sydney extends lockdown
Sydney's five million residents will be in coronavirus lockdown for at least another two weeks, the New South Wales state premier announces.
Australia's biggest city is already in its third week of partial lockdown, as authorities struggle to contain a fast-spreading outbreak of the Delta variant.
France: Rush to vaccinate
The French government defends a decision to impose Covid tests for unvaccinated people who want to eat in restaurants or take long-distance trips, which prompted a surge in bookings for jabs.
Prime Minister Jean Castex announces that France on Tuesday administered a record number of daily injections at 792,339 by 6:00 pm.
Germany: No mandatory jabs
Germany is not planning to follow France and other countries in introducing compulsory Covid-19 vaccinations for parts of the population, Chancellor Angela Merkel says.
$345 billion hit
Commonwealth countries lost up to $345 billion in trade last year as the pandemic triggered a global economic slump, according to a report published by the Commonwealth Trade Review.
