Pandemic continues to slow

PARIS, Oct 16, (AFP) - The coronavirus pandemic slowed for a seventh week in a row around the world.

The number of new daily cases decreased by five percent globally to 403,300, according to an AFP tally. The pandemic had gained ground since midJune fanned by the highly contagious Delta variant, but since late August it has been in decline.

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

This week saw an improvement in most regions of the world, with 23 percent fewer cases in Africa, 21 percent fewer in Latin America and the Caribbean, 19 percent fewer in the Middle East, 16 percent fewer in Asia and 14 percent fewer in the United States and Canada region.

Europe, however, bucked the trend with cases rising by half in Ireland, and 49 percent in the Netherlands, where more than 66 percent of the population has already received two vaccine doses. Cases increased by 42 percent in Poland and Latvia.

At the other end of the spectrum, Israel saw the biggest drop with a 48 percent decrease in the number of cases, followed by Cuba, Guatemala, Costa Rica and Vietnam, where cases were down by a quarter.

The US remained by far the country with the biggest number of new cases,

with 86,800 per day, a decrease of 14 percent. It was followed by the United Kingdom with 38,700, a 13 percent increase, and Turkey 30,500, an increase of five percent. The US also recorded the biggest number of deaths per day at 1,563, followed by Russia with 967, and Mexico 350.

At a global level the number of daily deaths continued to fall to 6,741, a drop of six percent.

Russia tops 1,000 daily virus deaths

MOSCOW, Oct 16, (AFP) - Russia on Saturday topped 1,000 deaths over 24 hours for the first time since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, with the country's jab drive at a standstill and few restrictions in place.

An official government tally showed 1,002 deaths and 33,208 new infections, setting a high for both fatalities and cases for the third day in a row. The surging outbreak has come with just 31 percent of Russians fully inoculated as of Saturday.

A lack of tough restrictions has allowed the virus to spread unchecked, though a number of regions have re-introduced QR codes for access to public places. The Kremlin has avoided re- introducing major restrictions despite calling the country's vaccination rate “unacceptably” low, saying this week authorities have to ensure “the economy continues working”.

Authorities have blamed Russians for the growing outbreak. Health Minister Mikhail Murashko this week pointed to their “behaviour”, while Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said everything had been done to give the public the chance to “save their lives by getting vaccinated”.

While several Russian-developed jabs have been available for months, authorities have struggled to inoculate a vaccine- sceptic population. Independent polls show that more than half of Russians do not plan to get a shot.

Russia's fatalities from Covid now stand at 222,315 -- the highest toll in Europe -even as authorities are accused of downplaying the severity of Russia's outbreak.