Weekly COVID-19 Reports Update

Weekly Epidemiological Update

 22 February

Globally, during the week of 14 to 20 February 2022, the number of new COVID-19 cases and deaths decreased by 21% and 8% respectively, compared to the previous week. Across the six WHO regions, over 12 million new cases and over 67 000 new deaths were reported. As of 20 February 2022, over 422 million confirmed cases and over 5.8 million deaths have been reported globally

At the regional level, the Western Pacific Region reported a 29% increase in the number of new weekly cases while all other regions reported decreases. The number of new weekly deaths increased in the Western Pacific (+21%) and the African (+20%) regions, and decreased in the South-East Asia (-37%), the Regions of the Americas (-9%), the European (-5%) and Eastern Mediterranean regions (-4%)

In this edition we provide an update on:

• The geographic distribution of circulating SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern (VOCs), including the prevalence and summary of current evidence of the Omicron variant. We also provide updates on vaccine effectiveness for the Delta and Omicron variants

Weekly Operational Update

 22 February

In this edition of the COVID-19 Weekly Operational Update, highlights of country-level actions and WHO support to countries include:

• Supporting the acceleration of COVID-19 vaccine roll-out in Georgia
• Scaling-up genomic sequencing in Nigeria to support policymakers
• WHO and partners working together to support Pacific Island Countries (PICs) as COVID-19 gains a foothold in the Pacific
• WHO support the scaling-up of suicide prevention during the COVID-19 pandemic in Bhutan
• Supporting on-site vaccination in Iraq
• Deployment of GOARN expert by WHO to support the Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands’ COVID-19 response
• Progress on a subset of global indicators that demonstrate country and global progress to end the acute phase of the pandemic

Rwanda’s primary health care strategy improves access to essential and life-saving health services

In Rwanda, the ‘land of a thousand hills’, reaching the nearest health facility usually means a long walk that, until recently, took an average of 95 minutes. Although the walking time was halved to 47 minutes in 2020, it is still a challenge for many people to access health care in a timely manner. Through an innovative approach that brings greater numbers of health posts close to communities, the Government aims to further reduce walking time to under 25 minutes by 2024
^{©WHO/Alice Rutaremara}

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