More than 4.1 million people worldwide have been infected with the coronavirus in the past week, and more than 44,000 have died, according to the World Health Organization.

According to the WHO, the number of new infections has decreased by 2 percent and deaths - by 9 percent compared to the previous seven days.

According to statistics, the WHO's weekly epidemiological report for the period December 13-19 registered 4,177,622 cases of infection and 44,616 deaths, which is 2 percent and 9 percent less, respectively, than the previous week. In Africa, however, there has been a significant increase in cases (53 percent) and deaths (15 percent). Except in Africa, only in the western Pacific has the number of deaths increased (by 12 percent), while the number of deaths there has decreased (by 6 percent).

Europe accounts for 63 percent of infections and 60 percent of deaths last week. At the same time, the number of cases decreased by 3 percent and deaths by 7 percent. In North and South America, the number of new infections decreased by 10 percent, and in Southeast Asia and the Eastern Mediterranean - by 12 percent. Significant reductions in deaths were recorded in North and South America (15 percent) and the Eastern Mediterranean (12 percent).

The highest number of infections per week was registered in the United States (725,750). They are followed by the United Kingdom (507,984), France (358,175), and Germany (283,673).

According to WHO data from December 21, 274,628,461 cases of infection and 5,358,978 deaths from COVID-19 have been registered in the world since the beginning of the pandemic. The number of infected people has increased by 543,414 people and the number of deaths by 6,488 per day. Most cases reported to the WHO are in the United States - 50,565,638. India (34,752,164). and Brazil (22,213,762). The highest number of deaths is in the United States - 799,942, followed by Brazil (617,803) and India (617,803), TASS reported.

/BTA