Geneva: Despite showing a 11 per cent rise in COVID-19 cases during the week December 20-26, 2021 as compared to the previous week, the number of new deaths remained similar to numbers reported during the previous week, latest World Health Organization (WHO) figures showed today. This corresponds to just under 5 million new cases and over 44 000 new deaths.
The European Region continued to report the highest incidence of weekly cases (304.6 new cases per 100 000 population), followed by the Region of the Americas (144.4 new cases per 100 000 population). Both regions also reported the highest weekly incidence in deaths of 2.6 and 1.2 per 100 000 population, respectively, while all other regions reported <1 new death per 100000.
The highest numbers of new deaths were reported from the United States of America (9355 new deaths; 2.8 new deaths per 100000; a 7% increase), the Russian Federation (7015 new deaths; 4.8 new deaths per 100 000; a 9% decrease), Poland (2842 new deaths; 7.5 new deaths per 100 000; a 5% decrease), India (2260 new deaths; <1 new death per 100 000; a 14% increase), and Germany (2131 new deaths; 2.6 new deaths per 100 000; an 18% decrease).
The African Region reported the highest increase in the number of new deaths (72%), followed by the South-East Asia Region (9%) and the Region of the Americas (7%). The European and Eastern Mediterranean Region reported decreases of 12% and 7% respectively, in the incidence of deaths, while in the Western Pacific Region, the incidence was similar to the previous weeks.
The Region of the Americas reported the largest increase in new cases in the last week (39%), followed by the African Region, which reported an increase of 7%. The South-East Asia Region continued to report a decrease in new cases as compared to the previous week (12%) while in the European, Eastern Mediterranean, and Western Pacific Regions, the number of new cases was similar to those reported during the previous week.
The highest numbers of new cases were reported from the United States of America (1 185 653 new cases; 34% increase), the United Kingdom (611 864 new cases; 20% increase), France (504 642 new cases; 41% increase); Italy (257 579 new cases; 62% increase) and Germany (197 845 new cases; 30% decrease). In WHO’s South-East Asia Region, the highest numbers of new cases continued to be reported from India (46 527 new cases; 3.4 new cases per 100 000; a 7% decrease).
There has been a gradual increase in the cases since October, 2021. As of December 26, over 278 million cases and just under 5.4 million deaths have been reported globally.
– global bihari bureau
