The coronavirus disease COVID-19 continues to spread at the regional and global levels. As of 19 December 2020, the global cumulative incidence reached 7 4310 507 reported cases and 1 670 142 associated deaths with a case fatality ratio (CFR) of 2.3%. Meanwhile, the 22 countries of the Eastern Mediterranean Region (EMR) have reported a total of 4 670 421 cases, which represent about 6.3% of the global count, with 115 650 associated deaths (CFR 2.5%). 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 (1 152 072 cases; 25% of the Region’s total), followed by Iraq (583 118; 12.0%) and Pakistan (457 176 ; 10%). Islamic Republic of Iran also reported the highest number of total associated deaths (53 448; CFR 4.6%) followed by Iraq (12 680; CFR 2.2%) and Pakistan (9330; CFR 2%). The highest CFRs were reported by Yemen (29.0%) followed by Sudan (6.2%), while the lowest CFRs were reported by Qatar (0.2%) followed by United Arab Emirates (0.3%) and Bahrain (0.4%).
During epidemiological week 51, the Region reported a decrease of 13.8% in cases when compared to the previous week (174 015 cases compared to 201 806 cases). Similarly, a 13.3% decrease was observed for associated deaths (3843 deaths compared to 4424 deaths).
Syria, Tunisia and Egypt reported a relative increase in COVID-19 activity in week 51. The cumulative number of cases in Syria increased from 9041 to 10 050 (39.9% weekly increase), Tunisia from 111 361 to 120 687 (26.7 % weekly increase) and Egypt from 121 089 to 124 891 (23.6% weekly increase). Syria, Pakistan, occupied Palestinian territory and Egypt had the largest relative increase in deaths.
In terms of testing, a total of 65 225 476 laboratory PCR tests were conducted since the start of the outbreak across the Region including 2 746 093 tests in week 51, which shows an 8% decrease compared to the previous week (3 001 519). The highest number of PCR tests were reported from United Arab Emirates (19.5 million), followed by Saudi Arabia (10.8 million) and Islamic Republic of Iran (7.0 million). The United Arab Emirates and Bahrain are performing the highest rates of testing per capita (1.99/1000 and 1.33/1000, respectively). The average positivity rate for the Region is 7%. 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.
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. Activities this week included:
the development of the Region’s ACT-Accelerator country preparedness activities workplan to support optimized introduction and use of antigen-based RDTs;
providing 8 training sessions to 510 UNRWA staff in Jordan on infection prevention and control measures; and
training 60 junior doctors in Gaza on COVID-19 critical and ICU care.
For more data from the Region, please visit the COVID-19 dashboard.
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