Globally, the number of new weekly cases reported during the week of 12 to 18 December 2022 was similar (+3%) to the previous week, with over 3.7 million new cases reported, the World Health Organization (WHO) said a weekly bulletin released in Geneva early on Wednesday.
The number of new weekly deaths was 6% lower than in the previous week, with over 10 400 new fatalities reported. In the last 28 days, over 13.7 million cases and over 40 000 new fatalities were reported globally – a 36% increase and 2% decline, respectively, compared to the previous 28 days. As of 18 December 2022, over 649 million confirmed cases and over 6.6 million deaths have been reported globally.
At the regional level, the number of newly reported weekly cases decreased across four of the six WHO regions: the South-East Asia Region (-36%), the African Region (-29%), the Eastern Mediterranean Region (-26%), and the European Region (-16%); while case numbers increased in two WHO regions: the Western Pacific Region (+8%) and the Region of the Americas (+18%). The number of newly reported weekly deaths decreased or remained stable across five regions: the African Region (-95%), the Eastern Mediterranean Region (-39%), the European Region (-22%), the South-East Asia Region (-20%), and the Region of the Americas (+3%); while death numbers increased in the Western Pacific Region (+7%).
At the global level, during epidemiological week 49 (5 to 11 December 2022), a total of 26 546 new hospitalizations and 1270 new intensive care unit (ICU) admissions were reported. The presented hospitalization data are preliminary and may change as new data become available. Furthermore, hospitalization data are subject to reporting delays. These data are also likely to include both hospitalizations with incidental cases of SARS-CoV-2 infection and those due to COVID-19 disease. Globally, in week 49, 26 (11%) countries reported data to WHO on new hospitalizations. The region with the highest proportion of countries reporting data on new hospitalizations was the European Region (18 countries; 30%), followed by the Eastern Mediterranean Region (four countries; 18%), the Western Pacific Region (two countries; 6%), the Region of the Americas (one country; 2%), and the African Region (one country; 2%). No country in the SouthEast Asia Region has reported data on new hospitalizations during week 49.
Across all six WHO regions, in week 49, a total of 21 (9%) countries reported data to WHO on new ICU admissions. The region with the highest proportion of countries reporting data on new ICU admissions was the European Region (13 countries; 21%), followed by the Eastern Mediterranean Region (four countries; 18%), the Western Pacific region (three countries; 9%), and the African Region (one country; 2%). No country in the South-East Asia Region or the Region of the Americas has reported data on new ICU admissions during week 49.
Among the 16 countries that reported more than 50 new hospitalizations, nine countries showed an increasing trend compared to the previous week: Latvia (381 vs 260 new hospitalizations; +47%), France (9081 vs 7250 new hospitalizations; +25%), Belgium (665 vs 533 new hospitalizations; +25%), Estonia (232 vs 190 new hospitalizations; +22%), Qatar (159 vs 131 new hospitalizations; +21%), Greece (1434 vs 1191 new hospitalizations; +20%), Slovakia (240 vs 202 new hospitalizations; +19%) and Ukraine (2711 vs 2556 new hospitalizations; +6%). France, Belgium, Latvia and Qatar have reported increases in the number of new hospital admissions for four consecutive weeks.
Among the eight countries that reported more than 10 new ICU admissions, one country showed an increasing trend compared to the previous week: France (728 vs 657 new ICU admissions; +11%).
