State of the pandemic: Where are we vs. the peak? We check the latest data on 6 key regions

6/1/21 8:00PM

Yesterday the UK announced something pretty novel. No new deaths from COVID-19. Although that particular number is a bit of a quirk of the data collection, it's consistent with the trend of the last months of falling deaths — and is a milestone certainly worth celebrating.

The trends in the US and the European Union are similarly optimistic, if just a bit behind. The latest data reveals the US is averaging ~600 daily deaths from COVID, way down on the peak of 3,400 seen back in January, with the EU numbers similar to those in the US.

There is also a glimmer of good news in India. Confirmed cases there have been falling for the last 3 weeks (although they remain extremely high) and confirmed deaths have also begun to fall ever so slightly — although experts continue to believe the official numbers are, sadly, likely to be severely undercounting the reality.

Undercounting is exactly what has been happening in Peru, which yesterday almost tripled its official COVID death toll to more than 180,000, after a government review. That leaves Peru with the highest COVID death rate of any country in the world (adjusted for population).

Another region to watch is Japan which has only just passed the peak of its worst COVID wave of the pandemic. Although the numbers in Japan remain very modest compared to many other countries, with the Tokyo Olympics set to start on July 23rd, officials and residents are watching the data closely, with many calling for the games to be cancelled.

Check out Our World In Data to for the latest COVID data for other countries or regions.

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The UAE’s OPEC exit will hit the group in the barrels

After just shy of 60 years in OPEC, its membership even predating its status as a nation-state, the United Arab Emirates yesterday announced its shocking departure from the oil production group, effective May 1, as the knock-on effects of the Iran war continue to play out across the Middle East and the energy landscape.

For context, the UAE produces the third-highest amount of oil in the group, per April data and OPEC’s latest set of annual statistics.

According to the cartel’s 2025 Annual Statistical Bulletin, the OPEC group was collectively exporting some 19 million barrels of crude oil a day last year, with the United Arab Emirates accounting for some 14% of that daily output.

UAExit means UAExit

The nation, whose energy minister told Reuters yesterday that the decision was taken “after a careful look at current and future policies related to level of production” and wasn’t made following discussions with any other country, made up a healthy share of the group’s total confirmed crude oil reserves, as well.

Of the 12 nations in the core group, which was founded by just five oil superpowers back in September 1960, only two (Iraq and Saudi Arabia) exported more barrels of crude oil daily, pumping out 3.36 million and 6.05 million barrels, respectively, each day to nations around the world.

For its part, the UAE said it will “continue its responsible role by gradually and thoughtfully increasing production, in line with demand and market conditions,” per the official state news agency. Clearly, the nation now wants a little more control of just how much oil it can pump around the world, with the UAE having to eat a large proportion of lost revenues due to its healthy abundance and OPEC restrictions.