Virus cases pick up after big global fall
PARIS, France (AFP) — The virus picked up speed again over the past week in every part of the world except Africa, after a month in which new COVID-19 cases fell by half, according to AFP data.
Here is the state of play worldwide:
The number of new daily cases globally increased by six per cent over the past week to 384,200.
It is a reversal after the unprecedented 51per cent plunge recorded from mid-January to mid-February, according to an AFP tally to Thursday.
New cases are now at a level last seen in mid-October.
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.
Africa is the only continent to see a slowdown, with 14 per cent fewer new cases.
All the other regions saw a pick up: 10 per cent in Europe, eight per cent in Asia and Latin America and the Caribbean, five per cent in the Middle East and one per cent in the United States and Canada.
In Oceania, the number of infections more than tripled, but there are nevertheless only 47 cases a day.
