Despite an overall decline in global COVID cases, fresh activity spikes are expanding to different parts of the world, with a crisis worsening in Afghanistan and cases rising sharply in a number of African countries.In other developments, the United Kingdom today updated its assessment of the Delta (B1617.2) variant, which appears to be more transmissible than the Alpha (B117 variant), and potentially leading to more hospitalizations.Hot spots shift to different nationsThe US State Department today in a health alert urged Americans to leave Afghanistan, where cases and deaths have risen sharply, causing shortages in supplies, oxygen, and hospital beds for patients with and without COVID.