Risk assessment of global COVID-19 pandemic in August 2023

  Objectives  To assess the global epidemic of Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in August 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 neighboring countries.

  Results   Compared with the previous month, the number of confirmed cases globally increased 3.97%, while the number of deaths decreased by 45.8% in August 2023. Italy, the UK, Mexico, Greece, Portugal and Romania are the countries of global concern. Close attention should be paid to Israel in Asia, Saint Lucia in North America and Morocco in Africa. Special concern should be paid to Russia, India, Afghanistan, Nepal and Kyrgyzstan among the 14 land-boarding countries.

  Conclusion   The global daily new confirmed cases showed a upward trend in August, while deaths cases showed a downward trend. 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.