The European Region had the highest proportion of countries reporting data on new hospitalizations, followed by the South-East Asia Region

The World Health Organization (WHO) has reported that some countries are experiencing a recent increase in COVID-19 cases, while others are seeing a rise in hospitalizations and deaths, albeit at lower levels compared to previous waves.

From June 5 to July 2, 885,000 new COVID-19 cases and 4,900 deaths were reported, according to the WHO’s COVID-19 weekly epidemiological update.

The African Region experienced a decline in cases but an increase in deaths, although starting from a relatively low baseline.

The WHO said that the diversity in variant circulation dynamics, coupled with the lower rates of morbidity and mortality, can be partially attributed to population immunity resulting from vaccination and past SARS-CoV-2 infections.

The WHO added that the declining trends in testing and sequencing on a global scale have led to insufficient and unrepresentative levels of SARS-CoV-2 genomic surveillance. This poses challenges in adequately assessing the SARS-CoV-2 variant landscape.

As of July 2, 2023, there have been over 767 million confirmed cases and over 6.9 million deaths reported worldwide. The reported cases may not accurately reflect infection rates due to global reductions in testing and reporting, the WHO clarified.

In the South-East Asia Region, there were over 18,000 new cases, a 69 percent decrease compared to the previous 28-day period. The highest numbers of new deaths were reported from Thailand (208), Indonesia (89), India (27).

At the global level, during the most recent 28-day period analysed (29 May 2023 to 25 June 2023), a total of 50 985 new hospitalizations and 1463 new intensive care unit (ICU) admissions were reported. This represents a 46 percent and 59 percent decrease in hospitalizations and ICU admissions, respectively, compared to the previous 28 days (1 to 28 May 2023).

Among the 19 countries consistently reporting new hospitalizations, two countries – Bangladesh, and Malta – registered an increase of 20 percent or greater in hospitalizations during the current reporting period compared to the previous 28-day period. The highest number of new hospitalizations was reported from the US (25 933), Ukraine (5126), and Italy (2318).

The European Region comprising 20 countries had the highest proportion of countries reporting data on new hospitalizations (33 percent), followed by the South-East Asia Region comprising two countries (20 percent), the Eastern Mediterranean Region encompassing four countries (18 percent), the Region of the Americas spanning eight countries (14 percent), the Western Pacific Region comprising three countries (9 percent), and the four countries in African Region (8 percent).

“Hospitalization data are subject to reporting delays and in recent weeks, we observe decreases in both data completeness and timeliness,” the WHO said. “During the most recent 28-day period analysed, 41 (18) countries reported data to WHO on new hospitalizations at least once.”

Also Read: 236,000 people die of drowning annually