The coronavirus disease COVID-19 continues to spread at the regional and global levels. As of 25 June 2022, the global cumulative incidence reached 541 106 411 reported cases and 6 339 033 associated deaths at a case-fatality ratio (CFR) of 1.17%. Meanwhile, the 22 countries of the Eastern Mediterranean Region (EMR) have reported a total of 21 957 162 cases, representing about 4.06% of the global count, with 343 509 associated deaths (CFR 1.56%). 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 (7 236 064; 33.0% of the Region’s total), followed by Iraq (2 338 109; 10.65%) and Jordan (1 699 197; 7.74%). Islamic Republic of Iran also reported the highest number of total COVID-19-associated deaths (141 383; CFR 1.95%) followed by Pakistan (30 388; CFR 1.98%) and Tunisia (28 691; CFR 2.73%). The highest CFRs were reported by Yemen (18.18%) followed by Sudan (7.91%) and Syria (5.63%), while the lowest CFRs were reported by United Arab Emirates (0.25%), Bahrain (0.24) and Qatar (0.18%) respectively.
During epidemiological week 25, the Region reported an increase in cases by 51% when compared to the previous week (79 207cases compared to 52 362 cases). An increase of 20% was also observed for associated deaths (90 deaths in the current week compared to 75 deaths in the previous week).
The weekly number of cases have increased in all countries in the Region as compared to the previous week. This week the number of COVID-19-associated deaths also decreased in 14 out of 22 countries of the region while 8 countries observed increased numbers of deaths as compared to the previous week.*
In terms of testing, a total of 402 622 587 laboratory tests were conducted since the start of the outbreak across the Region including 2 738 542 tests in week 25, which shows a 6% increase compared to the previous week when 2 577 908 tests were conducted. The highest number of PCR tests were reported from United Arab Emirates (168 947 279), followed by Islamic Republic of Iran (52 562 820) and Saudi Arabia (43 298 794). The average positivity rate for the Region is 5.45%. 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 777 373 675. Pakistan has administered the highest number of doses 287 170 265, followed by Islamic Republic of Iran at 150 001 215 and Egypt at 90 374 411. On the other hand, Somalia (3 143 630), Yemen (864 544), and Djibouti (209 475) 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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