MOSCOW, May 11. /TASS/. The number of worldwide COVID-19 cases has exceeded 159 million on Tuesday. Meanwhile, the case growth ratio has decreased compared to the last week by 30%, down to 630,000 new cases registered daily.

World Health Organization (WHO) Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus stated that incidence and mortality has reached a plateau globally, but added that this is an "unacceptably high plateau."

TASS has compared the situation in the most affected countries.

Incidence

Last week, the number of countries with over one million COVID cases has increased to 28, with Belgium and Sweden joining this group.

The highest infection spread ratio is currently in India. Since April 22, it kept registering over 300,000 infected people every day and even over 400,000 people for several days in a row. The total case count in the South Asian country is now 23 million people (the world’s second highest).

Brazil continues to tally over 70,000 cases every day, but the incidence rate fell compared to late March by almost 15%. The South American country is holding at third place on the total case count, with 15.21 million cases.

The US has seen its incidence drop to 40,000-45,000 new cases every day, but the total case count of roughly 33 million people remains the highest in the world.

High infection spread rates remain in Argentina, Columbia, France, Germany, Turkey and Iran. That said, it has decreased significantly in Mexico, the UK, Spain, Poland and the Czech Republic.

Letрality

The lethality situation in a number of countries is somewhat similar to the situation with that of the incidence level. The highest rate is currently in India, which registers some 3,800-4,000 deaths every day, followed by Brazil, with 2,200-3,000 daily deaths, and the US, with about 800.

Meanwhile, the US occupies the first place with regards to the total death toll (582,100 people), followed by Brazil (423,200) and India (almost 250,000).

The fatality rate remains high - over 400 deaths every day - in Argentina, Columbia, Poland. It is somewhat lower in Mexico, Italy, Germany and France.

The lowest lethality rate - less than 50 deaths every day - is now registered in the UK, Spain, the Czech Republic and several other European countries.

Relative figures

In relative figures, when compared between countries with over 1 million cases, the highest incidence rate is in the Czech Republic, with 15,300 cases per 100,000 people, followed by the US, with 10,000 cases per 100,000 people, Sweden with 9,900, the Netherlands with 9,100, France with 8,800 cases, and Belgium with 8,700 cases per 100,000 people. Meanwhile, the relative mortality in densely populated areas of Asia is much smaller: India only reports 1,600 cases per 100,000 people, the Philippines report 1,000 cases, while Indonesia reports only 600 cases per 100,000 people.

The highest relative mortality is also in the Czech Republic, with 277 dead per 100,000 people. In Belgium, this figure is 211, and in Italy it comes to 203. Some of the world’s lowest figures were registered in the Philippines (16), in Indonesia (17) and in India (18).

In Russia, according to the latest data, some 4.9 million people have contracted the disease, with 114,000 people having died. In relative numbers, Russia reports 3,300 infected and 78 dead per 100,000 people.