WHO East Med region leads global decline in new COVID cases

• Published date: 03 October 2021
• Author: STEVEN GANOT/THE MEDIA LINE
• Publication title: Jerusalem Post, The: Web Edition Articles (Israel)

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The biggest drops in new cases were in the Eastern Mediterranean (17%) and Western Pacific (15%) regions. The biggest drops in weekly deaths were in the Western Pacific (24%), Southeast Asia (20%), and Eastern Mediterranean (16%).

The WHO Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean serves 22 countries and territories in the Middle East, North Africa, the Horn of Africa and Central Asia. It does not include all Eastern Mediterranean nations and covers a number of countries far from the Mediterranean Sea. The region covered includes Afghanistan, Bahrain, Djibouti, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates and Yemen.

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The WHO first reported a substantial decrease in new cases in mid-September.

Based on statistics compiled by the Johns Hopkins University COVID-19 Data Repository, the seven-day rolling average of new cases worldwide started dropping from about 662,000 cases (84 cases per million population) on August 26, and the week-by-week change dipped below zero on August 30, when new cases worldwide dropped by 0.62% compared to the previous week. As of September 29, the seven-day rolling average of new cases worldwide stood at around 452,000 (57 cases per million population), representing a 12.31% drop compared to the previous week.

The global drop in new cases included a nearly 45% drop in South America, 21% in Africa, 17% in Asia, and 11% in North America, but also an increase of 4.7% in Europe and 9.9% in Australia.

The WHO said deaths from the coronavirus were down by at least 10% in all regions except Europe, where they dropped by only 1%, and Africa, which experienced a 5% rise in deaths.

The Johns Hopkins data showed that as of September 29, weekly reported deaths were down 7.16% globally. This included drops of nearly 22% in Asia and 5% in South America and Africa, and 2.5% in North America, but increases of more than 6% in Europe and 40% in Australia.

Despite the...