Weekly epidemiological update on COVID-19 - 7 September 2021

Overview

The global incidence of COVID-19 cases has remained stable over the month with over 4.4 million new cases reported this week (30 August-5 September). During this period, all regions reported either a decline (Regions of Africa, South-East Asia, and the Eastern Mediterranean) or a similar trend (Regions of Europe and the Western Pacific) in new weekly cases, except for the Region of the Americas which reported a 19% increase as compared to previous week. The number of deaths reported globally this week also remained similar to the previous week, with just under 68 000 new deaths reported. The incidence of new deaths declined in all regions apart from the Region of the Americas and Europe where deaths increased by 17% and 20% respectively.

The cumulative number of cases reported globally is now just over 220 million and the cumulative number of deaths is over 4.5 million.

In this edition, one special focus update is provided:

• A detailed update on the phenotypic characteristics (transmissibility, disease severity, risk of reinfection, and impacts on diagnostics and vaccine performance) of SARS-CoV-2 Variants of Concern (VOCs) Alpha, Beta, Gamma and Delta. It also includes updates on the geographic distribution of VOCs.