COVID-19 epidemiological update – 17 June 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 6.3% from 80 countries during the week ending 26 May 2024 compared to 7.1% from 87 countries from the previous week. 

KP.2 and KP.3, both descendent lineages of JN.1 and variants under monitoring (VUMs) continue to show increasing prevalence globally. They accounted for 22.7% and 22.4% of sequences in week 21 compared to 14.6% and 13.0% in week 18, respectively. Globally, JN.1 is the most reported variant of interest (VOI) (now reported by 132 countries), accounting for 47.1% of sequences in week 21 and having declined from a prevalence of 56.0% in week 18.

Globally, the number of new cases decreased by 11% during the past 28-day period of 29 April to 26 May 2024 compared to the previous 28-day period (1 to 28 April 2024), with over one hundred and twenty-nine thousand new cases reported.

During the period from 29 April to 26 May 2024, COVID-19 new hospitalizations and admissions to an intensive care unit (ICU) both recorded an overall decrease of 57% and 38% with over 14 000 and more than 400 admissions, respectively, from countries consistently reporting.

WHO published the latest COVID-19 Vaccination Insights Report for quarter one (Jan-Mar) 2024. Globally, 9.8 million individuals received a dose of COVID-19 vaccine across 73 reporting Member States (MS). containing 22% of the global population. Among older adults, 4.9 million individuals received a dose across the 60 MS reporting on uptake in this group, corresponding to an uptake rate of 0.42% so far this year.

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).