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Studies comparing the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on diagnostic microbiology culture yields and antimicrobial resistance proportions in low-to-middle-income and high-income countries are lacking. A retrospective study using blood, respiratory, and urine microbiology data from a community hospital in India and two community hospitals (Hospitals A and B) in St. Louis, MO, USA was performed. We compared the proportion of cultures positive for selected multi-drug-resistant organisms (MDROs) listed on the WHO’s priority pathogen list both before the COVID-19 pandemic (January 2017–December 2019) and early in the COVID-19 pandemic (April 2020–October 2020). The proportion of blood cultures contaminated with coagulase-negative <i>Staphylococcus</i> (CONS) was significantly higher during the pandemic in all three hospitals. In the Indian hospital, the proportion of carbapenem-resistant (CR) <i>Klebsiella pneumoniae</i> in respiratory cultures was significantly higher during the pandemic period, as was the proportion of CR <i>Escherichia coli</i> in urine cultures. In the US hospitals, the proportion of methicillin-resistant <i>Staphylococcus aureus</i> in blood cultures was significantly higher during the pandemic period in Hospital A, while no significant increase in the proportion of Gram-negative MDROs was observed. Continuity of antimicrobial stewardship activities and better infection prevention measures are critical to optimize outcomes and minimize the burden of antimicrobial resistance among COVID-19 patients.