Globally, nearly 3.6 million new cases and over 25,000 deaths were reported in the last 28 days (27 February to 26 March 2023), a decrease of 27% and 39%, respectively, compared to the previous 28 days. Despite this overall downward trend, it is important to note that several countries have recently reported significant increases in cases. As of 26 March 2023, over 761 million confirmed cases and over 6.8 million deaths have been reported globally, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

“Current trends in reported COVID-19 cases are underestimates of the true number of global infections and reinfections as shown by prevalence surveys. This is partly due to the reductions in testing and delays in reporting in many countries. Data presented in this report may be incomplete and should therefore be interpreted with caution. Additionally, data from previous weeks are continuously being updated to incorporate retrospective changes in reported COVID-19 cases and deaths made by countries.

We present changes in epidemiological trends using a 28-day interval. This wider time window helps to account for delays in reporting, smooth out weekly fluctuations in case numbers, and continue to provide a clear picture of where the pandemic is accelerating or decelerating. Disaggregated data are still accessible on the WHO COVID-19 dashboard, where the full dataset is available for download.

At the regional level, the number of newly reported 28-day cases decreased or remained stable across four of the six WHO regions: the Western Pacific Region (-49%), the Region of the Americas (-29%), the African Region (-10%), and the European Region (-1%); while case increased in two WHO regions: the Eastern Mediterranean Region (+142%), and the South-East Asia Region (+152%). The number of newly reported 28-day deaths decreased across five regions: the Western Pacific Region (-72%), the African Region (-43%), the Region of the Americas (-38%), the European Region (-7%), and the South-East Asia Region (-6%); while deaths increased in the Eastern Mediterranean Region (+95%).

At the country level, the highest numbers of new 28-day cases were reported from the United States of America (678 002 new cases; -38%), the Russian Federation (333 073 new cases; +6%), the Republic of Korea (270 378 new cases; -23%), China (255 961 new cases; -52%), and Japan (242 894 new cases; -68%). The highest numbers of new 28-day deaths were reported from the United States of America (7909 new deaths; -35%), the United Kingdom (2719 new deaths; -1%), Japan (1519 new deaths; -68%), China (1230 new deaths; -79%), and Germany (1085 new deaths; -34%),” the organization said.

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