Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19): Weekly Epidemiological Update (17 August 2022)

Global overview
Data as of 14 August 2022

Globally, the number of new weekly cases decreased by 24% during the week of 8 to 14 August 2022, as compared to the previous week, with over 5.4 million new cases reported (Figure 1, Table 1 in the PDF). The number of new weekly deaths decreased by 6%, as compared to the previous week, with over 15 000 fatalities reported. As of 14 August 2022, 587 million confirmed cases and 6.4 million deaths have been reported globally.

At the regional level, the number of reported new weekly cases decreased across all six regions: the African Region (-38%), the European Region (-38%), the Eastern Mediterranean Region (-30%), the Western Pacific Region (-18%), the Region of the Americas (-17%), and the South-East Asia Region (-11%). The number of new weekly deaths increased in the Western Pacific (+31%) and the South-East Asia Region (+12%), while it decreased or remained stable in the African Region (-33%), the European Region (-25%), the Eastern Mediterranean Region (-7%), and the Region of the Americas (-4%).

At the country level, the highest numbers of new weekly cases were reported from Japan (1 395 301 new cases; -7%), the Republic of Korea (866 830 new cases; +22%), the United States of America (679 653 new cases; -14%), Germany (271 277 new cases; -25%), and Italy (193 305 new cases; -32%). The highest numbers of new weekly deaths were reported from the United States of America (2 907 new deaths; -4%), Japan (1 647 new deaths; 64%), Brazil (1 495 new deaths; +3%), Italy (920 new deaths; -13%), and Spain (573 new deaths; -12%).

Current trends in reported COVID-19 cases and deaths 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. Additionally, data from countries are continuously updated by WHO to incorporate changes in reported COVID-19 cases and deaths made by countries retrospectively.