New cases of coronavirus are rising faster than ever worldwide, at a rate of more than 100,000 a day over a seven-day average, John Hopkins University, United States has disclosed.
According to data from the University, in April, new cases never topped 100,000 in one day but since May 21 there have only been less than 100,000 every five days.
Newly reported cases reached a high of 130,400 on June 3.
The increase in case rates may be explained by increase in testing capacity but there’s still not enough testing to capture an accurate picture in several countries.
Different nations’ epidemics have followed different trajectories.
The number of new cases has slowed in many of the countries that were hit hard earlier on in the pandemic, including China, the US, UK, Italy, Spain and France.
But many countries, particularly in South America, the Middle East and Africa, the rate of transmission still appears to be accelerating, according to a CNN analysis of Johns Hopkins University data.
In Libya, Iraq, Uganda, Mozambique and Haiti, the data shows the number of known cases is doubling every week. In Brazil, India, Chile, Colombia and South Africa, cases are doubling every two weeks.
“The Americas continues to account for the most cases. For several weeks, the number of cases reported each day in the Americas has been more than the rest of the world put together,” said World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on Wednesday.
A number of countries that passed their initial peak — such as South Korea, Germany and China — have since seen new clusters of infections after restrictions on movement were eased, raising fears of a second wave.
Authorities in 214 countries and territories have reported about 6.6 million Covid-19 cases and 391,000 deaths since China reported its first cases to the WHO in December.