1 
 COVID -19 Epidemiological Update  
Edition  163 published  19 January  2024 
In this edition:   
• Key highlights   
• Global overview  
• Hospitalizations and ICU admissions  
• SARS -CoV-2 variants of interest and variants under monitoring  
• WHO regional overviews   
 
 
Key highlights  
 
• Globally, during the 28 -day period from 11  December 2023  to 7 January 2024 , 106 countries report ed COVID -
19 cases and 51 countries  report ed COVID -19 deaths. Note  that this does not reflect the actual number of 
countries where cases or deaths are occurring , as many  countries have stopped or changed frequency of 
reporting .  
• From the available data , the number of reported cases has increased while deaths have decreased during 
the 28 -day period , with over 1.1 million new cases and 8700  new deaths , an increase of 4% and a decrease 
of 26%, respectively, compared to the previous 28 days ( 13 November to 10 December 2023 ). Trends in the 
number of reported new cases and deaths should be interpreted with caution due to decreased testing  and 
sequencing, alongside reporting delays in many countries.   According  to estimates obtained from wastewater 
surveillance, clinical detection of cases underestimates  the real burden from 2 to 19 -fold.  
• 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 8 % as of 7 January 
2024. 
• During the 28 -day period  from 11 December 2023  to 7 January , 53 and 42 countries provided  data at least 
once on COVID -19