Weekly COVID-19 cases increased by 55% on 9 January

World Health Organisation (WHO) revealed that weekly COVID-19 infection cases increased by 55% during the week of 3-9 January.

This was revealed in a weekly epidemiological update that was revealed on the 11^th of January.

‘’Globally, during the week 3 – 9 January 2022, the new weekly COVID-19 cases increased markedly by 55%, while the new weekly deaths remained similar to those reported during the previous week.

‘’This corresponds to over 15 million new cases and over 43,000 new deaths. As of 9 January, over 304 million confirmed cases and over 5.4 million deaths have been reported,’’ read the weekly update.

According to WHO, all regions reported an increase in the incidence of weekly cases except for the Africa Region, which reported an 11% decrease.

The South-East Asia region reported the largest increase in new cases last week (418%), followed by the Western Pacific Region (122%), the Eastern Mediterranean Region (86%), the Region of the Americas (78%), and the European Region (31%).

New weekly deaths increased in the African Region (84%) and Region of the Americas (26%) while it remained similar to the previous week in the Western Pacific Region.

A decrease in new weekly deaths was reported in the Eastern Mediterranean Region (11%), the European Region (10%), and in the South-East Asia Region (6%).

According to Dr. Maria Van Kerkhove (WHO COVID-19 Technical lead), the increase of COVID-19 cases is also due to the Omicron variant’s mutations and efficient transmissibility between people.

“So, there are several reasons why we’re seeing such a sharp increase in case numbers. First, is the emergence of Omicron and the circulation of Omicron, which transmits very efficiently between people. There are a number of reasons for this. The first is the mutations that it has.

‘’The virus is able to adhere to human cells more easily. It has mutations that allow it to do that. Second, is that we have what is called an immune escape. And this means that people can be reinfected either from if they had a previous infection or if they’ve been vaccinated,’’ she said.

Weekly COVID-19 cases increased by 55% on 9 January