Weekly epidemiological update on COVID-19 - 19 October 2021

Overview

Globally, the numbers of weekly COVID-19 cases and deaths has stabilized this week, with over 2.7 million cases and over 46 000 new deaths, a 4% and 2% decrease respectively, representing similar numbers as those reported last week’s. With the exception of the European region, which for the third consecutive week reported an increase in new COVID-19 cases (7% increase as compared with the previous week), all the other regions reported a decline. The largest decrease in new weekly cases was reported from the African Region (18%), followed by the Western Pacific Region (17%). The cumulative number of confirmed cases reported globally is now over 240 million and the cumulative number of deaths is over 4.8 million.

The number of new weekly deaths reported globally also showed a stabilization (2% decrease as compared with the previous week), with similar numbers as those reported last week’s in the European region (4% increase), Western Pacific region (1% increase) and the American region (1% decrease). The largest decline in new weekly deaths was reported from the African region showing a 24% decrease as compared to the previous week.

In this edition, we provide updates on the evolution and geographic distribution of SARS-CoV-2 Variants of Concern (VOCs), and summarise phenotypic characteristics (transmissibility, disease severity, risk of reinfection, and impacts on diagnostics and vaccine performance) of VOCs based on published studies.