US recorded highest new COVID-19 cases worldwide in past week: WHO

As the US reports fresh coronavirus cases, the World Health Organisation (WHO) in its latest report said over the past week the highest numbers of new cases were reported in the United States of America.

The US accounted for 500,332 COVID-19 cases which was an increase of 131 per cent followed by Brazil with 324,334 new cases - up 13 per cent and Indonesia with 289,029 cases.

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"Globally, cases of the Alpha variant have been reported in 182 countries with eight new countries reporting the Delta variant cases which has reached 132 countries," the report added.

The highest weekly case incidence rates per 100,000 population was reported in the Americas and European regions which reported 123.3 and 108.3 new cases per 100 000 population, respectively, the report said.

Americas recorded sharp increases in both COVID-19 cases and deaths after more than three months of overall declining trends. The Americas reported over 1.2 million new COVID-19 cases and just under 29,000 new deaths.

The highest number of new coronavirus related deaths in the Americas was reported in Ecuador reaching 8,864 followed by Brazil with 7,942 fatalities.

Britain which had removed major coronavirus restrictions on July 19 reported the highest numbers of new cases in Europe with 282,920 cases with the Russian Federation reporting 168,408 new cases and France reporting 117,832 new cases which was an increase of 178 per cent. 

According to the WHO, the Russian Federation also accounted for the most number of fatalities in Europe with 5,455 new deaths with the United Kingdom accounting for 447 new deaths.

In South-East Asia Indonesia has become the epicentre of the virus with the highest numbers of new cases at 289,029 and deaths at 9,697 in the past week.

WHO chief Tedros had said that over 3.5 billion vaccines have been distributed globally however more than 75 per cent of those have gone to just ten countries.

Tedros had asserted that a massive global push was needed in order to vaccinate at least 10 per cent of the population of every country by September 2021.

(With inputs from Agencies)