Weekly epidemiological update on COVID-19 - 25 January 2022

Globally, the number of new COVID-19 cases increased in the past week (17-23 January 2022) by 5%, while the number of new deaths remained similar to that reported during the previous week. Across the six WHO regions, over 21 million new cases were reported this week, representing the highest number of weekly cases recorded since the beginning of the pandemic.

Nearly 50 000 new deaths were also reported. As of 23 January 2022, over 346 million confirmed cases and over 5.5 million deaths have been reported worldwide.

A slower increase in case incidence was observed at the global level, with only half of the regions reporting an increase in the number of new weekly cases, as compared to five out of six regions in the previous week. The Eastern Mediterranean Region reported the largest increase in the number of new cases (39%), followed by the South-East Asia Region (36%) and the European Region (13%).

The number of new weekly deaths increased in the South-East Asia Region (44%), the Eastern Mediterranean Region (15%) and the Region of the Americas (7%), while the other Regions all reported declines in new weekly deaths.

In this edition, we provide updates on the geographic distribution of circulating SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern (VOCs), and summarize their phenotypic characteristics based on available studies. A specific brief update on the Omicron variant, is also provided.