The Latest: WHO says COVID-19 spread in Europe accelerating

GENEVA — The World Health Organization says there has been a “further acceleration” in the speed of COVID-19's spread in Europe, which was responsible for about half of the globe’s new cases reported last week.

The U.N. health agency said in a weekly report published late Tuesday that European countries also recorded a 46% increase in deaths compared with the previous week. Although deaths also rose in the Americas, the rate of increase there was only 2%.

In Europe, France, Italy and the U.K. reported the highest numbers of new cases while Andorra, the Czech Republic and Belgium reported the highest rate per capita.

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HERE’S WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE VIRUS OUTBREAK:

— Pope Francis urges people to follow public health recommendations

— Denmark's prime minister to be tested for COVID-19

— India’s capital reports a record high 6,725 new coronavirus cases in the past 24 hours

— South Korea approves single test for COVID-19 and flu

— Hungary’s foreign minister tests positive for the coronavirus after arriving in Thailand

— Michigan’s largest county postpones jury trials until January due to surge in COVID-19 cases

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Follow AP’s coronavirus pandemic coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/virus-outbreak and https://apnews.com/UnderstandingtheOutbreak

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HERE’S WHAT ELSE IS HAPPENING:

ROME — Pope Francis is urging people follow recommendations from government and public health authorities to prevent coronavirus infections as he held his weekly general audience in private amid a surge of infections in Europe.

The Vatican announced last...