Overview
Globally, over 836 000 new COVID-19 cases and over 4500 deaths were reported in the last 28 days (19 June to 16 July 2023). While five WHO regions have reported decreases in the number of both cases and deaths, the Western Pacific Region has reported a decline in cases but an increase in deaths. As of 16 July 2023, over 768 million confirmed cases and over 6.9 million deaths have been reported globally. Currently, reported cases do not accurately represent infection rates due to the reduction in testing and reporting globally. During this 28-day period, 56% (131 of 234) of countries and territories reported at least one case – a proportion that has been declining since mid-2022.
In this edition, we include:
- The COVID-19 epidemiological update at the global and the regional levels
- An update on hospitalizations and ICU admissions
- An update on the SARS-CoV-2 variants of interest (VOI) and variants under monitoring (VUM)
9
SARS-CoV-2 variants of interest and variants under monitoring
Geographic spread and prevalence
Globally, from 19 June to 16 July 2023 (28 days), 8712 SARS-CoV-2 sequences were shared through GISAID.
WHO is currently tracking several SARS-CoV-2 variants, including:
• Two variants of interest (VOIs); XBB.1.5 and XBB.1.16.
• Seven variants under monitoring (VUMs) and their descent lineages; BA.2.75, CH.1.1, XBB, XBB.1.9.1,
XBB.1.9.2, XBB.2.3 and EG.5.
EG.5 was added as a VUM on 19 July 2023. EG.5 is a descendent lineage of XBB.1.9.2 with an additional mutation, F456L, in the spike protein. EG.5 has shown rising sequence prevalence globally since epidemiological week 21 (22 to 28 May 2023). Currently, there is no evidence of rising cases and deaths or a change in disease severity associated with EG.5.
Globally, 118 countries have reported the detection of XBB.1.5 since its emergence. Notably, its prevalence has been declining steadily.
In epidemiological week 26 (26 June to 2 July 2023),
XBB.1.5 accounted for 15.8% of sequences, compared
to 23.5% in week 22 (29 May to 4 June 2023).
XBB.1.16 has been reported from 98 countries. In week 26,
XBB.1.16 accounted for 20.7% of sequences, similar to the prevalence of 20.2% observed in week 22. Its prevalence has surpassed that of XBB.1.5 in week 24 (12 to 18 June 2023).
An analysis of available data indicates that countries with a low prior prevalence of XBB.1.5 have experienced increases in the prevalence of XBB.1.16, while countries that had a high prevalence of XBB.1.5 have reported low circulation of XBB.1.16.
Table 3 shows the number of countries reporting the VOIs and VUMs and their prevalence from week 22 to week 26. During the period of the last five weeks, the VOI and the VUMs that have shown increasing trends are highlighted in orange, those that have remained stable are highlighted in blue, while those with decreasing trends are highlighted in green.
Among the VUMs, XBB.1.9.2 has shown an increasing trend in recent weeks, whilst other VUMs have shown declining or stable trends during the same reporting period.
Table 3. Weekly prevalence (%) of SARS-CoV-2 VOIs and VUMs, week 22 to week 26 of 2023
Lin. Cntr. Sequences§ 2023-22 2023-23 2023-24 2023-25 2023-26
XBB.1.5* 118 255 791 23.5 22.0 18.8 19.6 15.8
XBB.1.16* 98 35 817 20.2 20.5 21.9 22.7 20.7
BA.2.75* 124 122 038 3.2 2.9 3.4 2.9 1.9
CH.1.1* 95 42 538 0.9 0.8 0.7 0.7 0.7
XBB* 130 64 829 5.9 5.8 7.0 6.3 5.1
XBB.1.9.1* 99 47 080 17.7 18.2 16.2 15.0 13.7
XBB.1.9.2* 85 25 357 12.0 13.3 14.0 13.9 17.4
XBB.2.3* 66 7 373 4.2 3.9 4.0 5.2 4.4
Unassigned 92 149 884 1.8 1.7 2.2 2.1 9.5
Other+ 209 6 754 797 9.6 10.1 11.1 10.7 9.9.
§ Number of countries and sequences are since the emergence of the variants
* Includes descendant lineages, except those individually specified elsewhere in the table. For example, XBB* does not include XBB.1.5, XBB.1.9.1,
XBB.1.9.2, XBB.1.16, and XBB.2.3 The prevalence of EG.5 and its descendent lineages will be included in subsequent WEU editions.
+ Others are other circulating lineages excluding the VOI, VUMs, BA.1*, BA.2*, BA.3*, BA.4*, BA.5*
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