COVID-19 epidemiological update – 16 February  2024

Overview

SARS-CoV-2 PCR percent positivity, as detected in integrated sentinel surveillance as part of the Global Influenza Surveillance and Response System (GISRS) and reported to FluNet was around 10% as of 4 February 2024.

Globally, the number of new cases decrease by 58% during the 28-day period of 8 January to 4 February 2024 as compared to the previous 28-day period, with over 503 000 new cases reported. The number of new deaths decreased by 31% as compared to the previous 28-day period, with over 10 000 new fatalities reported. As of 4 February 2024, over 774 million confirmed cases and more than seven million deaths have been reported globally.

During the period from 8 January to 4 February 2024, COVID-19 new hospitalizations and admissions to an intensive care unit (ICU) both recorded an overall decrease of 32% and 38% with over 114 000 and more than 1300 admissions, respectively.

Globally, JN.1 is the most reported VOI (now reported by 99 countries), accounting for 88.0% of sequences in week 4 of 2024 compared to 64.5% in week 52 of 2023.

In this edition, we include:

• The COVID-19 epidemiological update at the global and 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).