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Global coronavirus figures return to mid-May levels

TASS has gathered key statistics of the pandemic for the past days

MOSCOW, August 8. /TASS/. The number of novel coronavirus cases confirmed worldwide in the past seven days increased to 4.3 million compared to 4.1 million reported during the previous week.

The case count rose to levels observed in mid-May 2021. However, the geography of the disease differs: this spring, South America accounted for the majority of all cases. Now, North America and several Asian nations bear the brunt. At the same time, Europe managed to contain the COVID-19 outbreak on its territory.

Mortality remains high: almost 69,000 patients died in the past week, up 6,000 from the previous seven-day period. For about three consecutive weeks, weekly death rates exceed 60,000, compared to less than 50,000 deaths registered weekly in June and first half of July.

TASS has gathered key statistics of the pandemic for the past days.

New wave in North America

The situation in North America deteriorated noticeably in past weeks. The United States, which reported less than 20,000 cases daily a month ago, now detects about 120,000. Mortality is on the increase as well, having grown from 400 to 700 per day.

In Mexico, cases spiked tenfold, to 20,000 cases daily. The count continues to grow, albeit not as fast as in Canada, which reported 2,100 new COVID-19 cases on Tuesday - the biggest daily number since May.

Outbreak in Asia

A yet another outbreak of the novel coronavirus infection gripped may Asian states. For example, Iran is registering about 35,000 cases daily. On Wednesday, the country reported its all-time high daily case count of 39,400.

In the neighboring Turkey, daily cases have been exceeding 20,000 for the past seven days, reaching levels observed in early May. The infection is also spreading rapidly in Iraq, where about 13,000 people are diagnosed with COVID-19 daily.

The pandemic is in full swing in other parts of Asia as well, such as Malaysia and Bangladesh. The infection wave in Indonesia has started to subside: the country registered about 35,000 COVID-19 cases daily in the first week of August, compared to July’s figures of 50,000.

However, Indonesia remains the hardest-hit nation in terms of mortality, reporting about 1,700 coronavirus-related deaths daily. Daily fatalities also spiked in countries that are at the height of the pandemic, such as Iran (400 deaths), Bangladesh (300) and Malaysia (300).

Stabilization in Europe

In the majority of European countries, the situation mostly stabilized as new restrictions were introduced and vaccination intensified.

Compared to mid-July, cases in the Netherlands shrunk more than four-fold, and almost halved in the United Kingdom.

At the same time, mortality in Europe remains at the minimal level despite the new wave of the pandemic.