Weekly epidemiological update on COVID-19 - 8 June 2021

Overview

Global case and death incidences continued to decrease with over 3 million new cases and over 73 000 new deaths reported in the past week, a 15% and an 8% decrease respectively as compared to the week before. In the past week, the European and South-East Asia Regions reported marked declines in the number of new cases while the African Region reported an increase as compared to the previous week.

 In this edition, a special focus update is provided on SARS-CoV-2 Variants of Interest (VOIs) and Variants of Concern (VOCs) Alpha (B.1.1.7), Beta (B.1.351), Gamma (P.1), and Delta (B.1.617.2). This includes updates on emerging evidence surrounding the phenotypic characteristics of VOCs (transmissibility, disease severity, risk of reinfection, and impacts on diagnostics and vaccine performance), as well as updates on the geographic distribution of VOCs.