The Covid-19 pandemic continued to surge around the world this week, driven by a worsening situation in the United States and Canada.

Here is the global state of play according to a specialised AFP database.

- Five percent increase -

The average number of new daily cases globally increased by five percent over the week to 645,400, according to an AFP tally to Thursday.

The pandemic has continued to gain ground for the past two months largely due to the highly contagious Delta variant which is predominant in a number of countries.

The confirmed cases only reflect a fraction of the actual number of infections, with varying counting practices and levels of testing in different countries.

- Flare up in North America - 

The number of new infections was by far the worst in the US-Canada zone, with 31 percent more cases compared to the previous week.

The pandemic also picked up speed, but more slowly, in the Middle East, which saw a seven percent increase, and in Europe where the number of cases increased by three percent.

It was stable in Africa and Asia.

There was a slow-down of four percent in Latin America and the Caribbean and by 31 percent in Oceania.

- Biggest spikes -

On a country basis, Azerbaijan saw the biggest pick up in cases, with an increase of 111 percent. Switzerland and Canada followed with 76 percent more, Israel with 52 percent more and Lebanon 48 percent more.

- Biggest drops -

Fiji saw the biggest drop of 47 percent this week, followed by Colombia (minus 36 percent), Mozambique and Zimbabwe each 34 percent less and Peru (minus 28 percent).

- Most new cases -

The United States continued to register the most daily cases over the week with 129,400 a day, an increase of 31 percent, followed by India (37,900, minus six percent) and Iran (37,500, an increase of 13 percent).

On a per capita basis the country that recorded the most new cases this week was Georgia with 746 cases per 100,000 inhabitants, followed by Cuba (538) and the Dominican Republic (497).

- Indonesia mourns most deaths - 

Indonesia continued to mourn the highest number of daily deaths, with 1,613 per day, followed by Brazil (884) and Russia (791).

At a global level the number of daily deaths increased by two percent to 9,540.

- Vaccinations -

Ecuador led the vaccination race, among countries with more than a million inhabitants, jabbing 1.59 percent of its population every day this week. 

Malaysia followed with 1.42 percent, Sri Lanka (1.37 percent), Singapore (1.22 percent), Panama (1.20 percent, Turkey (1.15 percent) and Trinidad and Tobago (1.02 percent). 

While they are vaccinating more slowly, among the countries with the most advanced vaccination drives are the United Arab Emirates with 175 first and second doses per 100 inhabitants, Singapore (142), Israel (139), Denmark (137), Canada (136), Chile and Belgium (134 doses each), Spain (129), the United Kingdom (128) and China (127). 

Some of these countries, including the United Arab Emirates, Israel and Chile have started administering third doses.