The number of Covid-19 cases shot up by almost a fifth across the world this week, as the pandemic picked up speed in most regions, with Europe bearing the brunt.
- The average number of new daily coronavirus cases over the past week increased by 18 per cent to more than 749,000. It was the tenth consecutive weekly rise.
- The highest percentage flare ups took place in Oceania, where the number of cases more than doubled, and the United States/Canada zone, where they increased by 55 per cent.
- The pandemic slowed in Asia and in the Middle East, where cases dropped by 13 and 12 per cent respectively.
- The confirmed cases only reflect a fraction of the actual number of infections, with varying counting practices and levels of testing in different countries.
- Several countries in Africa, where the highly contagious Omicron variant was first detected, were among those which registered the biggest spikes over the past week.
- The US remained by far the country with the biggest number of new cases with 184,834 per day on average, an increase of 51 per cent.
- In regional terms, Europe is currently recording the most cases, with more than three million over the past week, accounting for 58 percent of the world total.
- The US also mourned the highest number of daily deaths with 1,498, followed by Russia with 1,035.
- In regional terms Europe had the most deaths, with 26,375 over the week, or 54 percent of the world total.
- At a global level the number of deaths decreased by two per cent to 6,939 a day.
