However, the WHO European region recorded the largest increase in deaths between 14 and 20 September (+ 27%) compared to the previous week.
With the exception of Africa, all regions saw an increase in cases in the past week.
Globally, more than 30.6 million cases and 950,000 deaths have been reported to WHO since the onset of the disease that started in late December last year in China.
“From September 14 to 20, there were almost two million new cases of covid-19, which represents an increase of 6% in relation to the previous week and the highest number of cases reported in a single week since the beginning of the epidemic”, refers to WHO in its weekly newsletter.
In the same period, the number of deaths decreased by 10%, with 37,700 deaths reported.
However, the number of diagnosed cases reflects only a fraction of the actual number of infections as some countries test only severe cases, others prioritize testing for screening and many poor countries have limited testing capacity.
The American continent, responsible for more than 38% of all new cases notified last week, remains the most affected, according to the organization’s statistics.
However, the region recorded a 22% drop in the number of deaths.
The Southeast Asia region, which accounts for 35% of new cases last week, has surpassed the 100,000 mark since the start of the pandemic, with 9,000 new deaths in the past week.
The Eastern Mediterranean and Western Pacific regions have seen a slight increase in new cases and the number of deaths in the past three weeks.
In Africa, the epidemic continues to slow, with 12% drops in new cases of covid-19 and 16% in death data.
The covid-19 pandemic has already claimed at least 961,531 deaths and more than 31.1 million cases of infection in 196 countries and territories, according to a report by the French agency AFP.
In Portugal, 1,920 people died from 69,200 confirmed cases of infection, according to the most recent bulletin from the Directorate-General for Health.
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