<p>The spread of the virus around the world has slowed slightly this week, but is still rising fast in South America.</p>.<p>A weekly roundup from AFP's specialised database:</p>.<p>While Europe remains the centre of the pandemic, with an average of 236,900 new case daily -- far ahead of the US and Canada's 174,000 a day -- the rise in infections is slowing sharply.</p>.<p>For the second week in a row, they slid, falling back 10 per cent with many countries in lockdown.</p>.<p>But Europe is the only continent where new cases are clearly dropping, according to an AFP tally up to 1100 GMT Friday.</p>.<p>While infections are stable in the US and Canada, Africa and the Middle East, they are up a tenth in Latin America and the Caribbean and 13 per cent in Asia.</p>.<p>While there were only 24 new cases a day in Oceania, that was a rise of 64 per cent on last week.</p>.<p>Infections have rocketed in Mexico, up 113 per cent over the week to an average of 8,400 new cases a day.</p>.<p>Turkey saw the world's second-biggest rise, up 76 per cent, followed by Azerbaidjan (60 per cent up) and Serbia (45 per cent). Pakistan, Japan and South Africa all saw a 27 per cent increase.</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>The biggest falls were all in Europe, with France down nearly a half, Belgium (-37 perc ent), Switzerland down one third and Spain and the UK down around quarter.</p>.<p>All five countries have imposed lockdowns or very strict restrictions.</p>.<p>The US had the highest number of new cases this week with an average of 168,700 a day ahead of India (44,000) and Brazil (31,800). While flatlining in the US, infections rose steeply in India (up 12 per cent), Brazil (11 per cent) and Russia, by a tenth.</p>.<p>Georgia topped the global the table this week of per capita cases with 642 new infections per 100,000 inhabitants, with Balkan states Serbia, Montenegro and Croatia coming up behind.</p>.<p>In terms of deaths, the US is still by far the worst-hit country with 1,571 par a day -- more than twice that of second-placed Italy (711 a day) and Mexico (591), France (547), India (521) and Poland (497).</p>.<p>The US also still heads the overall death toll with 263,462, followed by Brazil with 171,460; India with 135,715; Mexico with 104,242; and the United Kingdom with 57,031.</p>
<p>The spread of the virus around the world has slowed slightly this week, but is still rising fast in South America.</p>.<p>A weekly roundup from AFP's specialised database:</p>.<p>While Europe remains the centre of the pandemic, with an average of 236,900 new case daily -- far ahead of the US and Canada's 174,000 a day -- the rise in infections is slowing sharply.</p>.<p>For the second week in a row, they slid, falling back 10 per cent with many countries in lockdown.</p>.<p>But Europe is the only continent where new cases are clearly dropping, according to an AFP tally up to 1100 GMT Friday.</p>.<p>While infections are stable in the US and Canada, Africa and the Middle East, they are up a tenth in Latin America and the Caribbean and 13 per cent in Asia.</p>.<p>While there were only 24 new cases a day in Oceania, that was a rise of 64 per cent on last week.</p>.<p>Infections have rocketed in Mexico, up 113 per cent over the week to an average of 8,400 new cases a day.</p>.<p>Turkey saw the world's second-biggest rise, up 76 per cent, followed by Azerbaidjan (60 per cent up) and Serbia (45 per cent). Pakistan, Japan and South Africa all saw a 27 per cent increase.</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>The biggest falls were all in Europe, with France down nearly a half, Belgium (-37 perc ent), Switzerland down one third and Spain and the UK down around quarter.</p>.<p>All five countries have imposed lockdowns or very strict restrictions.</p>.<p>The US had the highest number of new cases this week with an average of 168,700 a day ahead of India (44,000) and Brazil (31,800). While flatlining in the US, infections rose steeply in India (up 12 per cent), Brazil (11 per cent) and Russia, by a tenth.</p>.<p>Georgia topped the global the table this week of per capita cases with 642 new infections per 100,000 inhabitants, with Balkan states Serbia, Montenegro and Croatia coming up behind.</p>.<p>In terms of deaths, the US is still by far the worst-hit country with 1,571 par a day -- more than twice that of second-placed Italy (711 a day) and Mexico (591), France (547), India (521) and Poland (497).</p>.<p>The US also still heads the overall death toll with 263,462, followed by Brazil with 171,460; India with 135,715; Mexico with 104,242; and the United Kingdom with 57,031.</p>