ReliefWeb

The coronavirus disease COVID-19 continues to spread at the regional and global levels. As of 14 November 2020, the global cumulative incidence reached 52 852 674 reported cases and 1 295 328 associated deaths with a case fatality ratio (CFR) of 2.5%. Meanwhile, the 22 countries of the Eastern Mediterranean Region (EMR) have reported a total of 3 545 801 cases, which represent about 6.7% of the global count, with 90 052 associated deaths (CFR 2.5%). Most countries in the Region are in the community transmission phase.

Since the beginning of the outbreak, the country that has reported the highest number of total cases in the Region is Islamic Republic of Iran (749 525 cases; 21.1% of the Region’s total), followed by Iraq (516 915; 14.6%) and Pakistan (354 461; 10%). Islamic Republic of Iran also reported the highest number of total associated deaths (41 034; CFR 5.5%) followed by Iraq (11 623; CFR 2.2%) and Pakistan (7109; CFR 2%). The highest CFRs were reported by Yemen (29.1%) followed by Sudan (6%), while the lowest CFRs were reported by Qatar (0.2%) followed by Bahrain and United Arab Emirates (0.4% each).

During epidemiological week 46, the Region reported an 8.3% increase in cases when compared to the previous week (234 162 cases compared to 216 282 cases). On the other hand, a 1.5% decrease was observed for associated deaths (5652 deaths compared to 5739 deaths). The weekly trend per capita showed a slight increase as compared to the previous week (485/100 000 compared to 452/100 000).

Jordan, Morocco and Lebanon reported a relative increase in COVID-19 activity. The cumulative number of cases in Jordan increased from 104 802 to 141 305 (35% increase compared to the previous weeks), Morocco from 252 185 to 288 211 (14% increase) and Lebanon from 93 097 to 104 267 (12% increase). Jordan had the largest relative increase in deaths (44%) followed by Tunisia (20%) and Lebanon (13%).

In terms of testing, a total of 51 626 134 laboratory PCR tests were conducted since the start of the outbreak across the Region including 2 549 208 tests in week 46, which shows a 3% increase compared to the previous week (2 482 280). The highest number of PCR tests were reported from United Arab Emirates (14.9 million), followed by Saudi Arabia (8.8 million) and Islamic Republic of Iran (5.5 million). The United Arab Emirates and Bahrain are performing the highest rate of testing per capita (150 171 /100 000 and 111 333/100 000, respectively). The average positivity rate for the Region is 6.9%. WHO recommends a positivity rate of around 3–12% as a general benchmark indicating adequate testing, which was achieved in most countries of the Region.

Supporting countries in the Region The regional incident management support team continues to coordinate the response and provide technical support to countries and partners in the Region in the areas of coordination and partnership, surveillance, laboratory capacity, clinical management, infection prevention and control, risk communication and community engagement, points of entry according to the International Health Regulations (2005), research, health systems, and essential health services among others. Activities this week included:

• delivering infection prevention and control (IPC) training course to hospital IPC teams in Tunisia;

• kicking off COVID-19 clinical data platform implementation in Jordan, Pakistan and occupied Palestinian territory;

• publishing a policy brief on readiness for influenza during the COVID-19 pandemic policy; and

• releasing the terms of reference for the China part of the WHO-convened global study of the origins of SARS-CoV-2 that outlines the scope of the study and sets out its main guiding principles and key expected deliverables.