Weekly COVID-19 Epidemiological Update: Issue 11 (19 April 2022)

Abstract

[Executive Summary]. Since the onset of the pandemic in 2020 and up to April 19, 2022, a cumulative total of over 500 million COVID19 cases including approximately 6.2 million deaths were reported from all six WHO regions. During EW 15, cases and deaths decreased in all WHO regions. Globally, approximately 5.6 million new COVID-19 cases were reported in epidemiological week (EW) 15 (April 10, 2022-April 16, 2022), which was a 24.3% decrease compared to EW 14 (April 03, 2022-April 09, 2022) (Figure 1). For the same period, 18,215 new COVID-19 deaths were reported globally – a 21.4% relative decrease compared the previous week. In the region of the Americas, 490,525 cases and 4,797 deaths were reported in EW 15, which represent 2.2% decrease in cases and 15.2% decrease in deaths compared to the previous week. At the subregional level, there was a 11.2% increase in cases in North America – primarily in the United States of America – while the trend declined across the other three subregions during EW 15. For the same period, while the Caribbean and Atlantic Ocean Islands subregion reported a 38.9% increase in weekly deaths – primarily in Jamacia and Trinidad & Tobago – the trends declined in the remaining three subregions. The overall weekly case notification rate for the region of the Americas continued to decline with 48 cases per 100,000 population reported during EW 15 (49.1 the previous week). The 14-day COVID-19 death rate also declined in the region with 10.2 deaths per 1 million population reported during EW 14 and EW 15 (12.8 the previous two weeks). Among 36 countries/territories in the region with available data, COVID-19 hospitalizations increased in three countries and territories (range: 20.2% - 85.7%). Among 30 countries and territories with available data, COVID19 ICU admissions increased in three countries and territories (range: 6.5% - 20%). As of April 15, 2022, the cumulative vaccination rates with completed schedule per 100 people in the Region of the Americas ranged from 1.1 to 93.5%.1 (paho.org).