查看文章

As of 30 April 2021, the Eastern Mediterranean Region (EMR), home to nearly 700 million people across 22 diverse countries, has reported 9 109 162 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 182 654 cumulative deaths since the beginning of the pandemic. 1 Pandemic response in the EMR is complicated by compromised healthcare systems, prolonged conflicts and humanitarian crisis, and suboptimal reporting and transparency in many countries of the region. 2 Consequently, COVID-19 incidence rates have been uneven, fluctuating from less than 1000 confirmed cases per million population in Sudan, Syria, Somalia and Yemen to more than 40 000 confirmed cases per million population in Lebanon, Qatar and Bahrain. Up to this point in the pandemic, the five countries hardest hit with cumulative COVID-19 deaths per capita have been Lebanon, Iran, Tunisia, Palestine and Jordan and with the highest overall …