Situation Report of MPOX in Global and ASEAN Region - 23 January 2023

Worldwide, there have been over 659 million cases and over 6 million deaths attributed to COVID-19. • The World Health Organization (WHO) said in its weekly update that COVID-19 cases dropped 7% by last week compared to the previous 28 days, adding that COVID-19 cases have declined or remained stable in all world regions. Deaths, however, were up by 20%, reflecting rises in three regions: the Western Pacific, the Americas, and the Eastern Mediterranean. The United States and Japan reported the most deaths. The WHO said the increase doesn't include the nearly 60,000 deaths reported from China over the past month, because it is waiting for China to provide a breakdown by province. In its variant update, the WHO said BA.5 is still dominant at the global level, making up 70.5% of sequences. It added that BA.2 and its descendant lineages are increasing, while recombinants show a stable pattern.