As the number of infections increase across the world, and especially in Europe, here is a weekly roundup of developments in the coronavirus crisis. The pandemic has slightly picked up pace this week, with 295,000 new cases recorded on average per day around the world, an increase of three percent over the previous seven-day period. But it is again in Europe that the rate of infections is increasing the most, adding 22 percent compared to the previous week. The number of new daily cases has nearly quadrupled in Europe since early July, with 57,900 this week, up from around 15,000. There has also been a jump in the Middle East, with 13 percent more, the United States and Canada (11 percent) and Africa (eight percent). Growth in cases, however, has slowed in Oceania (down 26 percent), Asia (down six percent) and Latin America and the Caribbean (down four percent). The number of confirmed cases only reflects a fraction of the actual number of infections, as different countries have different counting practices and levels of testing. Among the countries which have recorded more than 1,000 new daily cases on average over the past week, the number of infections is increasing most in Belgium, at 75 percent more or 1,600 new cases on average per day. The Czech Republic follows with 69 percent more, or 2,200 cases per day, the Netherlands (64 percent, 1,900), Britain (48 percent, 5,000), Canada (39 percent, 1,200), Israel (35 percent, 5,300) and France (33 percent, 11,700). At the other end of the spectrum the biggest decreases are in the Philippines (down 25 percent, 2,900 new cases per day), Chile (down 16 percent, 1,500), Indonesia (down 13 percent, 3,600), Brazil, (down seven percent, 28,900) and India (down six percent, 87,800). India, the United States and Brazil are the three countries which have registered the biggest number of new infections over the past seven days, with 87,800, 43,500 and 28,900 new cases per day on average, according to a toll by AFP on Friday at 1100 GMT. Things are getting worse in the United States with an increase of 11 percent but improving in India (down six percent) and Brazil (down seven percent). France follows with 11,700 cases, Spain 11,200 and Argentina 10,900. India has registered the most deaths over the past week with 1,140 per day on average, ahead of the United States (750), Brazil (700), Mexico (420), Argentina (320), Colombia (180) and Iran (170). At the world level the number of daily deaths over the week is stable, at 5,300 per day. The pandemic has killed at least 984,068 people in the world since late December, for more than 32.2 million confirmed infections. The United States remain the country which mourns the most deaths with at least 202,827. Brazil then follows with 139,808, ahead of India (92,290), Mexico (75,439) and Britain (41,902). jah-eab/tgb