Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) Around the World

The Region of the Americas continues to carry the highest burden of COVID-19 globally, accounting for over 38% of all new cases reported in the past seven days.

(GENEVA, Switzerland) - WHO Director-General Dr Tedros, in his regular media briefing on Friday, highlighted that this is a critical moment for countries. As cases and deaths have started to spike again, he called upon leaders to put targeted measures in place which can help suppress the spread of the virus and ensure that health systems and workers are protected.

Individuals must also practice physical distancing, clean their hands frequently, wear a mask as advised, cough and sneeze safely away from others, avoid crowds, and keep windows and doors open when they can’t meet friends and family outside.

With the exception of the African Region, an increase in the weekly case incidence was reported across all WHO regions in the last seven days.

Overall, the Region of the Americas continues to carry the highest burden of COVID-19 globally, accounting for over 38% of all new cases reported in the past seven days, although the region has reported a 22% decrease in new deaths. The WHO European Region showed the greatest rise in deaths in the past week, with a 27% increase compared to the previous week.

The WHO South-East Asia Region has continued to report an increase in new COVID-19 deaths, with over 9000 deaths in the past week, accounting for 25% of all reported deaths and surpassing 100 000 total COVID-19 deaths since the beginning of the pandemic. In addition, the region accounts for 35% of new cases reported in the past week.

The Eastern Mediterranean and Western Pacific regions have both reported a slight increase in reported cases and deaths over the last three weeks. The African Region continues to show a marked decline with decreases of 12% and 16% in reported cases and deaths respectively in the past week.

Global epidemiological situation

From 14 through 20 September, there were almost 2 million new cases of COVID-19, which represents a 6% increase compared to the previous week, and the highest number of reported cases in a single week since the beginning of the epidemic. During the same period, there was a 10% decrease in the number of deaths, with 37,700 deaths reported in the past seven days.

Breakdown of COVID-19 Situation by WHO Region:

African Region

The region has reported almost 25,000 cumulative deaths to date, of which South Africa accounts for 15,900 (64%). South Africa continues to report the highest number of new cases and new deaths, followed by Ethiopia, Algeria and Mozambique.

Notably, 35 of 49 affected countries/territories/areas in the Region continue to report ongoing community transmission.

Region of the Americas

Even though the Region has reported an increase of 10% in the number of new cases in the past week, it also accounts for the largest decrease in deaths compared to the previous seven days (-22%).

Thirty-two out of the 48 affected countries and territories in the Region report community transmission, while only eight report sporadic transmission.

The countries reporting the highest numbers of new cases in the past week include the United States of America, Brazil, Argentina and Colombia. The number of daily cases reported in Ecuador has remained relatively high, with an average of more than 500 cases reported daily in September.

The marked decrease in the number of deaths in the Region has been driven mainly by a decrease in Colombia, Mexico, Ecuador and Bolivia in the past seven days, while the United States of America and Brazil continue to report the highest number of deaths, each reporting over 5000 new deaths in the past week.

While Argentina was one of the countries in the Americas with the lowest incidence of cases and deaths during the first few months of the pandemic, over the last few months the weekly incidence of cases has been rising rapidly, and test positivity rates have exceeded 40% in recent weeks.

Eastern Mediterranean Region

Jordan, Oman and Tunisia reported the greatest relative increase in cases compared to the previous week. While Iran reported the highest number of new deaths, Tunisia and Afghanistan reported the greatest increase in deaths compared to the previous week.

European Region

Iceland and Cyprus have reported the greatest percentage increase in new cases in the past week.

The Region has been experiencing a slight increase in the number of reported deaths over the past four weeks, reaching over 4000 new deaths in the past seven days.

Hungary and Denmark reported the highest relative increase in deaths in the past week, while the United Kingdom continues to report the highest number of cumulative deaths, with almost 42,000.

South-East Asia Region

Although the number of cases and deaths has been increasing steadily since March, the increases have slowed, with increases in new cases and deaths of only 1% and 4% respectively in the past week.

The countries reporting the highest number of new cases continue to be India, Indonesia and Bangladesh, while Myanmar and Nepal showed the highest increase in new cases in the past seven days.

The countries reporting the highest number of new deaths per million population include India and Maldives, with 6 and 4 deaths per million population respectively, while Myanmar continues to show the highest increase in deaths in the past week.

Western Pacific Region

For the latest data and information on COVID-19, please see:

• WHO COVID-19 Dashboard
• Rolling updates on COVID-19
• WHO COVID-19 Weekly Operational Update

Source: Updated Data as received by WHO from national authorities, as of 10:00 a.m. 20 September 2020