A total of 404,758 new cases were reported, with 6,086 new deaths.

This number can be explained only in part by increased testing since the first wave of the pandemic in March-April.

In Europe the number of cases rose sharply in a single week, by 44% compared to the previous week, while in the US and Canada infections increased by 17%.

Europe on Thursday recorded the highest number of cases, at more than 150,000, the highest since the start of the pandemic, and several countries on the continent now believe they have entered a second wave.

The number of recorded deaths in Europe is still far from the levels reached in April, when they averaged more than 4,000 a day. But after a slowdown during the summer to fewer than 400 deaths a day in July, the number rose to a daily average of 1,000 deaths last week.

In the US, where the number of reported cases declined in September after peaking in mid-July, infections have also been on the rise.

There was a daily average of more than 50,000 new cases over the past seven days, peaking on Thursday at more than 70,000.