The coronavirus disease COVID-19 continues to spread at the regional and global levels. As of 2 April 2022, the global cumulative incidence reached 488 184 968 reported cases and 6 148 493 associated deaths with a case-fatality ratio (CFR) of 1.2%. Meanwhile, the 22 countries of the Eastern Mediterranean Region (EMR) have reported a total of 21 594 387 cases, which represent about 4.4% of the global count, with 340 915 associated deaths (CFR 1.6%). Most countries in the Region are in the community transmission phase.
Since the beginning of the outbreak, the country that has reported the highest number of total cases in the Region is Islamic Republic of Iran (7 166 371 cases; 33.2% of the Region’s total), followed by Iraq (2 320 126; 10.7%) and Jordan (1 694 216; 7.8%). Islamic Republic of Iran also reported the highest number of total associated deaths (140 277; CFR 2%) followed by Pakistan (30 361; CFR 2%) and Tunisia (28 425; CFR 2.7%). The highest CFRs were reported by Yemen (18%) followed by Sudan (6.4%), while the lowest CFRs were reported by Qatar (0.2%), United Arab Emirates and Bahrain (0.3% for both).
During epidemiological week 13, the Region reported an increase in cases of 6% when compared to the previous week (43 123 cases compared to 40 867 cases). A decrease of 27% was observed for associated deaths (605 deaths compared to 825 deaths).
Islamic Republic of Iran, Iraq and Morocco reported the largest relative increase in COVID-19 activity in week 13. The weekly number of cases increased from 9572 in week 12 to 17 582 in week 13 in Islamic Republic of Iran (an 84% weekly increase), from 1956 to 2379 in Iraq (22% weekly increase) and from 479 to 549 in Morocco (15% weekly increase). Syria and Afghanistan had the largest relative increase in deaths.*
In terms of testing, a total of 366 099 685 laboratory PCR tests were conducted since the start of the outbreak across the Region including 3 133 718 tests in week 13, which shows a 4% decrease compared to the previous week when 3 264 185 tests were conducted. The highest number of PCR tests were reported from United Arab Emirates (149 million), followed by Islamic Republic of Iran (49.7 million) and Saudi Arabia (41.6 million). The average positivity rate for the Region is 5.8%. WHO recommends a positivity rate of around 3–12% as a general benchmark indicating adequate testing, which was achieved in most countries of the Region.
Meanwhile, COVID-19 vaccination continues across the Region. The total number of doses administered so far in the 22 countries is 690 406 103. Pakistan has administered the highest number of doses at 226 203 802, followed by Islamic Republic of Iran at 146 457 742 and Egypt at 77 978 885. On the other hand, the total number of administrated doses in Sudan is 6 761 896, in Syria is 3 442 389, in Libya is 3 436 348, in Somalia is 2 452 984, in Yemen is 807 502 and in Djibouti is 167 362.**
Supporting countries in the Region
The regional incident management support team continues to coordinate the response and provide technical support to countries and partners in the Region in the areas of coordination and partnership, surveillance, laboratory capacity, clinical management, infection prevention and control, risk communication and community engagement, points of entry according to the International Health Regulations (2005), research, health systems, and essential health services among others.
For more data from the Region, please visit the COVID-19 dashboard.
*Reporting on weekly relative difference instead of cumulative difference to better reflect the extent of the COVID-19 pandemic as we witness a decline in reported cases. This decline could be partially due to the change in the frequency and quality of data being shared by some countries as they moved to reporting through weekly aggregated data.
**The data on vaccination is obtained from a number of sources including media reports and country websites for ministries of health.
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