The coronavirus disease COVID-19 continues to spread at the regional and global levels. As of 3 October 2020, the global cumulative incidence reached 34 495 176 reported cases and 1 025 729 associated deaths with a case fatality ratio (CFR) of 3%. Meanwhile, the 22 countries of the Eastern Mediterranean Region (EMR) have reported a total of 2 465 894 cases, which represent about 7.2% of the global count, with 63 150 associated deaths (CFR 2.6%). 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 (468 119 cases; 19% of the Region’s total), followed by Iraq (375 931; 15.2%) and Saudi Arabia (335 997; 13.6%). Islamic Republic of Iran also reported the highest number of total associated deaths (26 746; CFR 5.7%) followed by Iraq (9347; CFR 2.5%) and Pakistan (6507; CFR 2.1%). The highest CFRs were reported by Yemen (28.9%) followed by Sudan (6.1%), while the lowest CFRs were reported by Qatar (0.2%) followed by Bahrain (0.4%).

During epidemiological week 40, the Region reported a slight decrease in cases when compared to the previous week (124 203 cases compared to 124 225 cases). On the other hand, a 2.1% increase was observed for associated deaths (2777 deaths compared to 2720 deaths). The weekly trend per capita showed a slight increase as compared to the previous week (337/100 000 compared to 320/100 000).

Jordan, Tunisia and Lebanon reported a relative increase in COVID-19 activity. The cumulative number of cases in Jordan increased from 8061 to 14 749 (83% increase compared to the previous weeks), Tunisia from 16 114 to 20 944 (22% increase) and Lebanon from 35 228 to 43 480 (20% increase). Jordan had the largest relative increase in deaths (105%) followed by Tunisia (27%) and oPt (17%).

In terms of testing, a total of 36 934 151 laboratory PCR tests were conducted since the start of the outbreak across the Region including 2 141 361 tests in week 40, which shows a 1% increase compared to the previous week (2 121 887). The highest number of PCR tests were reported from United Arab Emirates (10 million), followed by Saudi Arabia (6.6 million) and Islamic Republic of Iran (4.1 million). The United Arab Emirates and Bahrain are performing the highest rate of testing per capita (101 350 /100 000 and 86 312 /100 000, respectively). The average positivity rate for the Region is 6.7%. 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, points of entry according to the International Health Regulations (2005), research, health system, essential health services among others. Activities this week included:

holding the 12th webinar of the COVID-19 Laboratory Community of Practice on 30 September with a focus on the duration of infectiousness and reinfections of SARS-COV-2;

providing technical support to Tunisia to scale up testing capacity of COVID-19 and strengthening national laboratory networks to allow timely access to testing in all parts of the country and develop a procurement and distribution plan for testing kits, reagents and other supplies;

providing technical support to Member States on the key considerations for use of antigen-detection in the diagnosis of COVID-19 using rapid tests;

conducting virtual meetings to support Afghanistan, Egypt, Lebanon, Sudan and United Arab Emirates to support and maintain reproductive, maternal, newborn, child and adolescent health services;

contributing to webinar organized by WHO Regional Office for Africa on technical tools for the protection of health personnel in the context of COVID-19;

conducting virtual training for rapid response teams in Yemen, through which 50 members were trained on COVID-19 investigation and response;

providing ICU/critical care training support in Afghanistan and the Gaza in the occupied Palestinian territories; and

assessing the reported capacity checklist in Yemen’s isolation units and intensive care units (ICUs) followed by the development of tailored case management training in ICUs.

For more data from the Region, please visit the COVID-19 dashboard.

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