The coronavirus disease COVID-19 continues to spread at the regional and global levels. As of 26 December 2020, the global cumulative incidence reached 79 229 268 reported cases and 1 754 513 associated deaths with a case fatality ratio (CFR) of 2.2%. Meanwhile, the 22 countries of the Eastern Mediterranean Region (EMR) have reported a total of 4 827 259 cases, which represent about 6.1% of the global count, with 119 135 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 (1 194 963 cases; 24.8% of the Region’s total), followed by Iraq (590 779; 12.2%) and Pakistan (471 335; 9.8%). Islamic Republic of Iran also reported the highest number of total associated deaths (54 574; CFR 4.6%) followed by Iraq (12 767; CFR 2.2%) and Pakistan (9874; CFR 2.1%). The highest CFRs were reported by Yemen (29%) followed by Sudan (6.3%), while the lowest CFRs were reported by Qatar (0.2%) followed by United Arab Emirates (0.3%) and Bahrain (0.4%).
During epidemiological week 52, the Region reported a decrease of 9.9% in cases when compared to the previous week (156 838 cases compared to 174 015 cases). Similarly, a 9.3% decrease was observed for associated deaths (3485 deaths compared to 3843 deaths).
Tunisia, Syria and Lebanon reported a relative increase in COVID-19 activity in week 52. The cumulative number of cases increased from 120 687 to 131 592 in Tunisia (9% weekly increase), from 10 050 to 10 932 in Syria (8.8% weekly increase), and from 156 570 to 169 472 in Lebanon (8.2% weekly increase). Occupied Palestinian territory, Syria and Lebanon had the largest relative increase in deaths.
In terms of testing, a total of 67 874 830 laboratory PCR tests were conducted since the start of the outbreak across the Region including 2 649 354 tests in week 52, which shows an 4% decrease compared to the previous week (2 746 093). The highest number of PCR tests were reported from United Arab Emirates (20.2 million), followed by Saudi Arabia (10.9 million) and Islamic Republic of Iran (7.4 million). The United Arab Emirates and Bahrain are performing the highest rates of testing per capita (2041/1000 and 1362/1000, respectively). The average positivity rate for the Region is 7.1%. 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:
publishing the updated case definitions for public health surveillance of COVID-19; and
publishing the updated interim guidance for public health surveillance of COVID-19 in humans caused by infection with SARS-CoV-2.
For more data from the Region, please visit the COVID-19 dashboard.
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