Europe faces real threat of Covid-19 resurgence, WHO Europe head says
Medical specialists transport a patient outside a hospital for people infected with the Covid-19 in Moscow, Russia on Oct 13, 2021.
PHOTO: Reuters
PUBLISHED ONNovember 05, 2021 2:20 AM
COPENHAGEN - European countries must work harder to prevent the coronavirus from spreading further as deaths and new cases surge, the World Health Organisation's (WHO) Europe head said on Thursday (Nov 4).
Current transmission rates in 53 European countries are of "grave concern" and new cases are nearing record levels, exacerbated by the more transmissible Delta variant of the virus, the WHO's Hans Kluge told a media briefing.
"We must change our tactics, from reacting to surges of Covid-19 to preventing them from happening in the first place," he said.
The region saw a six per cent increase in new cases last week of nearly 1.8 million new cases, compared to the week before. The number of deaths rose 12 per cent in the same period.
If the region follows its current trajectory, Kluge said, another 500,000 Covid-19 related deaths could occur in the region by February next year.
"Today every single country in Europe and Central Asia is facing a real threat of Covid-19 resurgence or already fighting it."
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