According to the WHO Weekly epidemiological update on COVID-19 - released 1 June 2022, the number of new weekly cases has continued to decline since a peak in January 2022, globally.
During the week of May 23-29, 2022, over 3.3 million cases were reported, an 11% decrease as compared to the previous week.
The number of new weekly deaths also continues to decline, with over 9,600 fatalities reported, representing a 3% decrease as compared to the previous week. As of May 2, 2022, over 526 million confirmed cases and over six million deaths have been reported, globally.At the regional level, the number of new weekly cases increased in the American Region (+9%) and in the Eastern Mediterranean Region (+1%), while it decreased in the remaining four WHO regions. The number of new weekly deaths increased in the Western Pacific Region (+18%), in the African Region (+15%), and in the Region of the Americas (+13%), while decreasing trends were observed in the remaining three regions.
These trends should be interpreted with caution as several countries have been progressively changing COVID-19 testing strategies, resulting in lower overall numbers of tests performed and consequently lower numbers of cases detected.
At the country level, the highest number of new weekly cases were reported from the United States of America (736 298 new cases; +3%), China (576 367 new cases; +6%), Australia (294 128 new cases; -18%), Japan (203 365 new cases; -18%), and Germany (183 844 new cases; -38%). The highest number of new weekly deaths were reported from the United States of America (2 461 new deaths; +25%), Brazil (826 new deaths; +16%), Italy (624 new deaths; -15%), the Russian Federation (605 new deaths; - 11%), and China (578 new deaths; +82%).
