This update will be published daily at 12pm GMT and aims to provide clinicians and the public with an overview of the latest data, guidelines, key publications and policy around COVID-19, with links to essential resources and information.

If you are a healthcare professional, please join the discussion on these latest COVID-19 cases on MedShr:

Please post any COVID-19 cases, images or learning points from your clinical practice on MedShr - share key knowledge and experience with a global network of doctors to help improve patient care. Include #COVID19 in your case title.

Please email COVID@medshr.net if you have any data, publications or information you would like to share.

Global Impact of COVID-19 to Date

As of 22nd April 09:00 (GMT)

Source: Johns Hopkins University & Medicine

COVID-19 Cumulative Global Cases

As of 22nd April 11:00 (GMT)

Source: World Health Organisation

COVID-19 Global Active Cases Map

As of 22nd April 09:00 GMT

Source: Johns Hopkins University & Medicine

Total UK COVID-19 Cases

As of 21st April

NB: Public Health England has now moved to a different reporting time for UK COVID-19 fatalities, as family consent is now needed to release mortality statistics. Hence the reported figures may not actually be the deaths that have taken place over the past 24 hours, meaning caution needs to be exercised when comparing figures from one day to the next.

Source: Public Health England

COVID-19 Cumulative UK Cases

As of 21st April

Source: Public Health England

COVID-19 Daily UK Cases

As of 21st April

Source: Public Health England

Covid-19 outbreaks in Arab countries

Last updated 16th April 2020

Source: Nature Middle East

COVID-19 in the Eastern Mediterranean Region

As of 21stApril 11:00 (GMT)

Source: World Health Organisation

COVID-19 in the African Region

As of 21st April 11:00 (GMT)

Source: World Health Organisation

COVID-19 Key Data

With differences in testing, reporting, resource availability and management are COVID-19 numbers from different countries comparable?

Source: BBC

 Temporal dynamics in viral shedding and transmissibility of COVID-19

Source: He et al. Nat Med (2020)

Source: information is beautiful

Source: The Lancet

Latest Developments

Africa

Coronavirus - Ethiopia: Notification Note on COVID-19 Situational Update

How Uganda’s history of epidemics has prepared it for COVID-19

COVID-19: Rwanda, DR Congo make mask wearing mandatory

WHO to Africa: COVID-19 containment is possible, ‘Don’t lose hope’

COVID-19 Corona Virus: South African Resource Portal

Amref COVID-19 Africa Information Centre

WHO Africa Dashboard: Coronavirus (COVID-19)

Asia

Singapore sets new daily record for coronavirus cases

ASEAN Briefing: The Coronavirus in Asia and ASEAN – Live Updates by Country

Channel News Asia: COVID-19 map

Middle East

Turkey's Covid-19 cases overtake Iran to become highest in Middle East

COVID-19: Saudi Arabia reports 1,088 new cases, 5 deaths

COVID-19 is exacerbating neo-colonialism, including in Egypt

Europe

Feeding Europe: Spain's fruit and vegetable workers at forefront of Covid-19 crisis

Armenia receives EU-supported personal protective equipment to fight COVID-19

How are Europe's front pages covering the COVID-19 pandemic?

Europe’s PEPP-PT COVID-19 contacts tracing standard push could be squaring up for a fight with Apple and Google

United Kingdom

Coronavirus: Remembering the NHS workers who have died

Coronavirus: Deaths at 20-year high but peak may be over

Fit testing face masks to avoid transmission during the coronavirus outbreak

UK Government Advice

USA

Why Forecasting COVID-19 Deaths in the US is Critical

Coronavirus: Immigration to US to be suspended amid pandemic, Trump says

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website

US Coronavirus (COVID-19) website

Latest COVID-19 Publications

Some key recent publications to be aware of:

Coronavirus: Why are international comparisons difficult?

Published 21st April 2020

BBC article on how country COVID-19 reporting and statistics may vary. An informative and accessible summary on how to evaluate data and news. Relevant for anyone interested in knowing more about how to spot "fake news" and how to critically appraise articles.

COVID-19 in the USA: a question of time

Published 18th April 2020

Editorial from the Lancet on the USA response and handling of the COVID-19 pandemic. With many countries across the globe in lock-down or in emergency measures, governments and clinical advisory bodies are being critiqued about their plans and strategies on dealing with the pandemic. Have a look at this perspective on the USA response, what do you think about this and how has your local policy been handled?

Temporal dynamics in viral shedding and transmissibility of COVID-19

Published 15th April 2020

SARS-CoV-2 viral shedding may begin 2 to 3 days before the appearance of the first symptoms. Study analysing the temporal patterns of viral shedding in 94 patients with laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 and modeled COVID-19 infectiousness profiles from a separate sample of 77 infector–infectee transmission pairs.

Sarah Gilbert: carving a path towards a COVID-19 vaccine

Published 18 April 2020

Perspective from Prof. Sarah Gilbret, Professor of Vaccinology at the University of Oxford in the UK. About how close we are to a vaccine to control the pandemic.

Daily Update by Samantha Goh, MedShr Open Editorial Team, Medical Education Teaching Fellow