The coronavirus disease COVID-19 continues to spread at the regional and global levels. As of 23 April 2022, the global cumulative incidence reached 507 240 456 reported cases and 6 239 707 associated deaths at a case-fatality ratio (CFR) of 1.23%. Meanwhile, the 22 countries of the Eastern Mediterranean Region (EMR) have reported a total of 21 687 970 cases, representing about 4.28% of the global count, with 342 452 associated deaths (CFR 1.58%). 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 (7 215 512 cases; 33.3% of the Region’s total), followed by Iraq (2 324 141; 10.72%) and Jordan (1 695 745; 7.82%). Islamic Republic of Iran also reported the highest number of total COVID-19 associated deaths (140 962; CFR 1.95%) followed by Pakistan (30 369; CFR 1.99%) and Tunisia (28 550; CFR 2.74%). The highest CFRs were reported by Yemen (18.18%) followed by Sudan (7.94%) and Syria (5.65%), while the lowest CFRs were reported by Qatar (0.19%), United Arab Emirates and Bahrain (0.26% for both).
During epidemiological week 16, the Region reported a decrease in cases by 25% when compared to the previous week (22 322 cases compared to 29 929 cases). A decrease by 24% was also observed for associated deaths (275 deaths in the current week compared to 360 deaths in the last week).
The weekly number of cases have decreased in all countries of the Region except in Djibouti (increased from 4 to 13 cases) and Libya (increased from 28 to 42 cases) as compared to the previous week. The number of COVID-19-associated deaths increased in Pakistan from 2 to 6, in Morocco from 1 to 3 and in Sudan from 1to 2 as compared to the previous week.*
In terms of testing, a total of 381 392 232 laboratory tests were conducted since the start of the outbreak across the Region including 8 228 756 tests in week 16, which shows a 202% increase compared to the previous week when 2 722 555 tests were conducted. The highest number of PCR tests were reported from United Arab Emirates (154 143 355), followed by Islamic Republic of Iran (50 759 838) and Saudi Arabia (41 817 866). The average positivity rate for the Region is 6%. WHO recommends a positivity rate of around 3% to 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 722 673 458. Pakistan has administered the highest number of doses 251 063 642, followed by Islamic Republic of Iran at 147 854 376 and Egypt at 81 384 156. On the other hand, Somalia (2 651 515), Yemen (821 853), and Djibouti (176 908) administrated the lowest number of COVID-19 doses in the Region.**
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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