Risk assessment of global COVID-19 pandemic in February 2023

  Objective   To assess the global epidemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in February 2023 and the risk of importation.

  Methods   According to the daily COVID-19 data publicly released by World Health Organization, combined with the travel restrictions published by Sherpa, an epidemiological description method was used to provide a comprehensive and timely assessment of the global epidemic risk through a general overview, a comprehensive assessment of the epidemic trends in each continent and key countries, as well as a comprehensive analysis of the epidemic and travel requirements in 14 neighbouring countries.

  Results   Compared with the previous month, the number of confirmed cases and deaths globally decreased by 78.70% and 67.85% respectively in February 2023. Daily new confirmed cases and deaths showed a decreasing trend in all continents in February. Russia and Austria were countries with global concern, the new cases of which increased significantly this month compared with the last month. Nauru in Oceania also showed a rapid rise in the number of new cases in February. Special concern should be paid to Russia among the 14 land-boarding countries, whose cases rose in February and there were no international travel restriction related to COVID-19.

  Conclusion   The global daily new confirmed cases and deaths showed a downward trend in February. It is necessary to continuously monitor countries with global concern and establish a communication mechanism with relevant agencies to exchange information and provide timely warnings.