Moldova: Coronavirus Disease - COVID 19 - Situation Report No. 35 (09 October 2020)

Highlights – data as reported by national authorities

• The number of cases continued to grow over the past week, with a new record number of daily cases - 1,121 - being reported on Thursday of this week and another 1,062 cases being reported on Wednesday. The average number of daily cases over a seven-day period now stands at 836, which is over 100 cases more compared to the same figure last week. The total number of reported cases currently stands at 59,915. The total number of active cases increased to 15,483, which represents 25.8% of all registered cases;

• The overall crude cumulative incidence of cases per 100,000 stands at 1,725, placing Moldova near the top of countries with some of the highest incidence of cases in Europe and in the region. The crude cumulative incidence of cases over the last seven days is 168 and over the last 14 days is 316, with both figures registering an increase over the past week;

• The number of deaths continued to grow, with a total of 88 deaths being reported over the last seven days. The average number of daily deaths over the same period is 12.57, which is somewhat higher than the 12.00 figure registered last week. The total number of deaths reached 1,424. The case fatality rate, at the same time, dropped slightly to 2.4%. The average age of patients who have died from the disease is 66.4, with over 90% of all deaths having been reported in patients 50 years of age and older;

• The number of patients who have recovered from the disease now stands at 43,008. This represents 71.8% of all cases;

• Weekly figures reflect an accelerated growth in the number of confirmed cases. The total number of new cases registered last week is 5,704, which represents a 33.3% increase compared to the previous week.
  The contagion rate (R0) also increased to 1.17 last week but decreased slightly since then and now stands at 1.14;

• The weekly number of deaths decreased to 79 last week, which is 5 less than the previous week or a 6% decrease. However, the number of serious cases increased to 667 during the same period, which is nearly 100 cases more compared to the week prior. The number of serious cases continued to increase further this week, reaching 731 in the last seven days;

• The weekly number of recoveries remained relatively stable over the past couple of weeks, but against the background of rapidly increasing cases, this trend is concerning given the widening gap between new cases and recoveries, which is contributing to an increase in active cases. The total number of recoveries last week was 3,113;

• The share of health care workers in the total number of cases remained around 11%. Over 6,500 doctors, nurses, medical assistants and other staff from the health care sector have been infected with the virus since the beginning of the outbreak;

• In terms of geographical distribution, Chisinau, with 44% of all confirmed cases, remains the most affected area if the number of cases is considered. Transnistria region, Balti, ATU Gagauzia and Ialoveni follow in the list of most affected areas, accounting for 3-8% of all cases each. All other areas have 2% or less of the total number of cases each. If the size of the population is considered, with nearly 4,000 cases per 100,000,
  Chisinau remains the most affected area in the country. The capital city is followed by Balti, Ialoveni and Basarabeasca, which have surpassed the 2,000-cases mark per 100,000, and Taraclia, Edinet, ATU Gagauzia, Straseni and Soroca, which have surpassed the 1,500-case mark per 100,000;

• The contagion rate is also uneven across the country, with certain districts registering considerably higher rates than others. Taraclia, Stefan Voda, Leova, Cahul and Cantemir, for example, have some of the highest contagion rates in the country, which range between 1.4 and 1.8. The contagion rate in Chisinau is 1.2;

• More women continue to be infected with the virus than men, 59% vs. 41%. However, the percentage of men who have died from the disease is slightly higher than that of women, 51% vs. 49%. Furthermore, the case fatality rate among men continues to be higher than among women, 2.9% vs. 2.0%;

• Real time figures and graphs can be accessed here in Romanian and in Russian here. This site has more than 2.08 million views to date.