Global epidemiological situation
Geneva: This past week, the global acceleration in COVID-19 case incidence has slowed down, with around 4 million new cases reported; however, death rates continue to increase with over 67 000 new deaths reported, the World Health Organisation stated today.
The European and South East Asia Regions continued downward trends in weekly cases; however, the European Region remains the largest contributor to new cases and new deaths in the past 7 days. The Region of the Americas reported increases in both new cases and new deaths and the Region continues to account for the greatest proportion of cumulative cases and deaths.
While cases numbers remain relatively low, the African Region reported the highest increase in new cases (15%) and deaths (30%) this week. The Eastern Mediterranean and Western Pacific regions also reported an increase in new cases and deaths this week.
As of November 22 , 2020, there have been over 57.8 million cases and 1.3 million deaths reported globally since the start of the pandemic. In the past week, the five countries reporting the highest number of cases were the United States of America (reporting over 1.1 million cases, a 14% increase from the previous week), India (over 280 000 cases, an 8% decrease), Italy (over 230 000 new cases, a 3% decrease), Brazil (over 200 000 new cases, a 17% increase) and France (over 170 000 new cases, a 16% decrease).
African Region
In the African Region , the weekly incidence of new cases reached over 47 000 this week with around 1000 new deaths reported, accounting for 15% and 30% relative increases when compared to the previous week, respectively . The highest new case and death counts were reported in South Africa, Algeria and Kenya. In Rwanda this week, cases have increased by 25%, with 226 new cases (17.4 cases per 1 million population) reported. In Zimbabwe, 334 new cases (22.5 cases per 1 million population) were reported this week, with a gradual increase being observed in recent weeks after an initial wave of cases earlier this year. Overall, the country has reported over 9 000 confirmed cases and nearly 300 deaths. The characteristics of the cases show most cases (57%) occur in those aged 20-40 years with a greater proportion of females in older age groups. Deaths are largely occurring in those aged 40-80 years and males account for a greater percentage of deaths in these age groups.
Region of the Americas
In the Region of the Americas, the weekly incidence of new cases reached over 1.6 million this week with over 22 000 new deaths reported, accounting for 11% and 15% relative increases when compared to the previous week. The majority of these were reported from the United States of America, with over 1.1 million new cases (9918 cases per 1 million population), followed by Brazil and Mexico.
Cases in the United States of America continue to rise, showing a 14% increase in the past 7 days, while deaths increased by 23%. The three states reporting the highest number of cases were Illinois, Texas and California.
On the island of Puerto Rico, relatively low levels of transmission have been sustained over several months with 4600 new cases (91 cases per 1 million population) reported last week. However, weekly deaths have trended upwards in recent weeks, from a low of 26 new deaths/week observed in last October, to 90 new deaths reported last week. The highest numbers of cases in the country have been reported in the Metro, Bayamón and Caguas health regions. Women account for a slightly higher proportion of cases (54%), with an overall median age of 41.5 years.
While Argentina currently accounts for the third-highest number of weekly cases (over 62 000 new cases, 1745 cases per 1 million population) and deaths (around 3 200), both new cases and new deaths have been trending downwards since mid-October. There has however, been a slight increase in cases in eight neighborhoods of the Buenos Aires metropolitan area (Balverna, Boca, Colegiales, Contitucion, Nunez, Palermo, Parque Chacabuco and Vila Urquiza) and cases have stopped decreasing in Cordoba and Rosario; raising concerns that this may signal a broader shift in trend in the coming weeks.
Eastern Mediterranean Region
The number of new weekly cases (250 746) and deaths (6299) continues to rise in the Eastern Mediterranean Region, 5% and 10% higher respectively than the previous week. Since August, the number of new weekly cases and deaths has risen in the Region, when fewer than 80 000 new cases and 2500 new deaths were reported per week.
Iran, Jordan, Morocco, Pakistan, Iraq and Lebanon reported the highest numbers new cases. The number of new cases in Iraq has declined by 20% over the past week to 16 640 cases(1092 cases per 1 million population). The number of weekly new cases has declined since the week of 19 October when there were 25 629 new cases. The number of new deaths has also declined steadily and Iraq reported an 11% decline from last week to only 302 deaths.
Jordan is reporting 36 800 new cases this week, a 1% rise from last week and the second -highest number of incident cases in the Region (after the Islamic Republic of Iran). The number of new weekly cases has continued to increase since August, when there were fewer than 50 casesreported. Jordan has the highest number of new cases per 1 million population in the Region with 3 612 new cases per 1 million. Last week nearly half of cases were reported from the capital, Amman, followed by Irbid, Aqaba, and Zarqa. Although most cases have been in the 25-34 age group, around 80% of deaths last week were in those aged 55 and over. Jordan also has the highest number of new deaths per 1 million population in the region with 45.9 deaths per 1 million population. The number of weekly deaths has increased since August, but in the past week declined by 11% to 468 new deaths.
The number of new cases in the occupied Palestinian territory, including east Jerusalem, increased by 78% last week to 8 430 new cases(1652 cases per 1 million population). This represents the highest number of new cases since the pandemic began, and is higher than the previous peak of over 6200 cases reported in the third week of September. Gaza remains a pressing concern as itis ill-equipped to face a major spike in cases due to poor living conditions and a fragile healthcare system.
European Region
In the past week, the number of new cases reported in the European Region declined by 6% to 1.77 million, after a decline of 10% in the previous week; in a sign that the re-introduction of stricter public health and social measures in a number of countries over the last few weeks is beginning to slow down transmission. Despite this reduction in new cases, the Region still accounts for 44% of global new cases and 49% of global new deaths. New deaths in the Region have continued to rise with 32 684 new deaths reported in the past week.
This week, Italy reported the highest number of new cases in the Region and third-highest globally, with 235 979 new cases (3902 cases per 1 million population); however, cases may have peaked given the slight (3%) decline reported. The number of new deaths increased by 26% to 4578 new deaths (75 deaths per 1 million population). The northern Italy provinces of Valle d’Aosta, Bolzano and Piemonte report the highest number of cases.
The number of new cases in the United Kingdom fell by 13% from last week to 149 027 new cases (2195 cases per 1 million population), while the number of new deaths remained similar. This decline in new cases represents the first weekly decline since late August. Since 24 August, the number of COVID-19 tests conducted daily has increased from 179 000 to 330 000 on 13 November (7 -day daily average). The number of patients admitted to hospital has also grown from fewer than 100 per day at the end of August, to 1 600 on 14 November; however, this is considerably lower than hospitalisations in early April, when there were over 3000 patients admitted daily. The United Kingdom currently has the fifth- highest number of new cases in the European Region, and the eighth highest number worldwide, however, per capita case incidence remains lower than many other countries in the Region.
Poland reported 152 357 new cases (4026 cases per 1 million population), a 10% fall from last week. The number of new deaths has risen by 35% to 3243 new deaths (or 85 new deaths per 1 million population). Cumulative cases have been highest in the south of Poland, in the provinces of Silesia and Lesser Poland, and in central Poland, in the provinces of Mazowieckie and Greater Poland.
South-East Asia Region
The South-East Asia Region has observed a continued decline in the number of weekly new cases since mid-September with over 351 000 cases reported, while the number of weekly new deaths has remained at similar levels over the past four weeks with 4 706 deaths.
The regional trend is largely driven by the decline in cases in India, which comprises 80% of the Region’s new weekly cases. Countries with the highest number of weekly new cases were India, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Nepal and Myanmar.
In Myanmar, a 74% increase in cases was observed in the past week, with over 11 000 new cases (204 cases per 1 million population) reported. The number of total new deaths was 188, a 36% increase compared to the previous week. This trend is a change from the decrease in cases observed since the week commencing 12 October. The government has extended the existing COVID-19 prevention measures until the end of November, including the temporary suspension of international and domestic flights. Health authorities are concerned about a potential increase in cases following gatherings which occurred during the recent election and are closely monitoring the situation.
In Sri Lanka, 3580 new cases (167 cases per 1 million population) were reported in the past week, a 29% increase compared to the previous week and the highest number of cases reported in a week since the beginning of the pandemic. The number of new deaths reported was 30, continuing the upward trend in the number of deaths observed in the past five weeks. In the Colombo and Gampaha Districts in Western Province, there are movement restrictions in 18 divisions which will be continued in the coming weeks, as well as in eight districts where restrictions will be lifted this week.
In Bangladesh, a gradual increase in the weekly number of cases observed since October continued, with over 14 000 new cases (90 cases per 1 million population) in the past week (a 26% increase compared to the previous week). Although there had been a downward trend in deaths since the beginning of September, a 43% increase was reported in the past week with 177 new deaths compared to the previous week. National authorities have closed schools and educational institutions since 17 March. Most school children in Bangladesh do not have access to the internet, so the government is broadcasting lessons on television, and universities are providing classes online. Despite relatively stable testing, the proportion of positive tests has slightly increased over the past month, suggesting an increase in cases and spread of the disease.
Western Pacific Region
Over the past week, the Western Pacific Region recorded over 36 000 cases and 439 deaths. The Region observed a continued increase of cases, with a 9% increase compared to the previous week, while deaths remained stable compared to the previous week.
Varying patterns of trends were observed in the Region, where countries including Japan, Republic of Korea, Mongolia and Australia reported an increase in cases compared to the previous week, whereas countries including the Philippines, French Polynesia, Guam, China and Singapore observed a decreasing trend. Japan, Philippines, Malaysia, Republic of Korea and French Polynesia reported the largest number of new weekly reported cases.
Japan reported the largest number of daily cases since the beginning of the outbreak with over 2000 cases reported per day for five consecutive days, and 13 502 new cases (107 cases per 1 million population) reported in the past week, a 41% increase from the previous week. There has been a resurgence in cases over the past three weeks following a relatively stable number of cases in September and October. The largest number of daily cases to date were observed in prefectures including Tokyo and surrounding prefectures, Osaka and Hokkaido. The COVID-19 alert level in Tokyo Prefecture has been raised to the red level, which is the highest of the four categories. The number of newly reported deaths in the past week was 91, which was an increase by 28%.
Mongolia observed a sharp upward trend with 166 new weekly cases (51 cases per 1 million population), following a period of low levels ranging from 0 to 17 weekly cases from July to October. The number reported this week was more than twice the number reported in the previous week. On November 11, Mongolia reported its first case of COVID-19 transmission in the community. Although there have been many imported cases reported, this case in the capital city of Ulaanbaatar was the first instance of transmission within the country. Two separate clusters were detected soon after in Selenge province which borders the Russian Federation. One of the clusters in Selenge was traced back to an event in early November, which has led to local clusters with linked cases in the provinces of Darkhan-Uul, Govisumber, Orkhon and Dornogovi. Mongolia declared a state of emergency on 12 November. No deaths have been reported in Mongolia since the beginning of the pandemic.
*Source: World Health Organisation
– globalbihari bureau
