<p>Europe remained the epicentre of the pandemic this week despite a decrease in the number of new cases while US cases continued to spike.</p>.<p>A weekly roundup from AFP's specialised database:</p>.<p>The pandemic continued to rampage during the past week across the world with a record daily average of 593,000 new cases -- three per cent higher than the previous week -- according to an AFP tally on Friday at 1100 GMT.</p>.<p>With 264,100 new daily cases, Europe is still the most-affected region -- far ahead of the US and Canada where new cases averaged 172,200 per day.</p>.<p>However, the rate of increase in Europe is down by seven per cent thanks to lockdowns and curfews. In North America it has jumped by 26 per cent.</p>.<p>The pandemic accelerated in nearly all regions of the world -- by nine per cent in the Middle East, three per cent in Latin America and the Caribbean, and two per cent in Africa.</p>.<p>In Asia, new cases fell by eight per cent.</p>.<p>Although new cases in Australia and Oceania increased by 12 per cent, the region remains nearly virus-free with an average of just 15 new cases daily.</p>.<p>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.</p>.<p>Serbia is where the pandemic is advancing the fastest with a 68 per cent increase or 4,300 new cases per day.</p>.<p>Azerbaijan saw a pick-up of 47 per cent with 2,000 cases per day, ahead of Pakistan (43 per cent, 2,300), Japan (43 per cent, 1,600), and Turkey (40 per cent, 3,600).</p>.<p>This week the biggest decrease in the infection rate was seen in Nepal with a 41 per cent decline in new infections to 1,500 new cases per day.</p>.<p>The tally in the Czech Republic dropped by 38 per cent, followed by France (-37 per cent), Belgium (-36 per cent) and Mexico (-35 per cent). France, Belgium, and the Czech Republic have had lockdowns and other restrictive measures in recent weeks.</p>.<p>By country, the US once again recorded the largest number of new infections this week with an average of 167,400 cases per day, ahead of India (39,200) and Italy (34,600).</p>.<p>While the number of new infections is on the decline in India (-14 per cent) and has stabilised in Italy, it is getting worse in the US (up 26 per cent).</p>.<p>Brazil comes next with 28,600 cases or 18 per cent more.</p>.<p>The US mourned the most deaths in the past week with an average of 1,400 per day, ahead of Italy (612), France (595), Brazil (540) and India (494).</p>.<p>The pandemic has cost the lives of at least 1.36 million people since it first emerged in China late last year, out of more than 56.8 million confirmed infections.</p>
<p>Europe remained the epicentre of the pandemic this week despite a decrease in the number of new cases while US cases continued to spike.</p>.<p>A weekly roundup from AFP's specialised database:</p>.<p>The pandemic continued to rampage during the past week across the world with a record daily average of 593,000 new cases -- three per cent higher than the previous week -- according to an AFP tally on Friday at 1100 GMT.</p>.<p>With 264,100 new daily cases, Europe is still the most-affected region -- far ahead of the US and Canada where new cases averaged 172,200 per day.</p>.<p>However, the rate of increase in Europe is down by seven per cent thanks to lockdowns and curfews. In North America it has jumped by 26 per cent.</p>.<p>The pandemic accelerated in nearly all regions of the world -- by nine per cent in the Middle East, three per cent in Latin America and the Caribbean, and two per cent in Africa.</p>.<p>In Asia, new cases fell by eight per cent.</p>.<p>Although new cases in Australia and Oceania increased by 12 per cent, the region remains nearly virus-free with an average of just 15 new cases daily.</p>.<p>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.</p>.<p>Serbia is where the pandemic is advancing the fastest with a 68 per cent increase or 4,300 new cases per day.</p>.<p>Azerbaijan saw a pick-up of 47 per cent with 2,000 cases per day, ahead of Pakistan (43 per cent, 2,300), Japan (43 per cent, 1,600), and Turkey (40 per cent, 3,600).</p>.<p>This week the biggest decrease in the infection rate was seen in Nepal with a 41 per cent decline in new infections to 1,500 new cases per day.</p>.<p>The tally in the Czech Republic dropped by 38 per cent, followed by France (-37 per cent), Belgium (-36 per cent) and Mexico (-35 per cent). France, Belgium, and the Czech Republic have had lockdowns and other restrictive measures in recent weeks.</p>.<p>By country, the US once again recorded the largest number of new infections this week with an average of 167,400 cases per day, ahead of India (39,200) and Italy (34,600).</p>.<p>While the number of new infections is on the decline in India (-14 per cent) and has stabilised in Italy, it is getting worse in the US (up 26 per cent).</p>.<p>Brazil comes next with 28,600 cases or 18 per cent more.</p>.<p>The US mourned the most deaths in the past week with an average of 1,400 per day, ahead of Italy (612), France (595), Brazil (540) and India (494).</p>.<p>The pandemic has cost the lives of at least 1.36 million people since it first emerged in China late last year, out of more than 56.8 million confirmed infections.</p>