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Covid-19: Rebound in infections in Europe is “very worrying”, warns WHO

The current rate of transmission of the coronavirus in Europe it is “very worrying” and could cause half a million additional deaths between now and February on the continent, the World Health Organization (WHO).

The European region of the who –Which includes 53 countries in Europe and Central Asia, among them Russia and several former Soviet republics – registered almost 1.8 million new cases and 24 thousand deaths last week, 6 and 12% more respectively than the previous one, and in EU, the increase in transmissions in the last four weeks is 55%.

Although the increase in cases is generalized in all age groups, the who highlighted as more worrying the “rapid” increase in the elderly, since 75% of deaths They are from people over 65 years.

This fourth “massive” wave especially affects Germany, which yesterday recorded a record of daily infections since the coronavirus pandemic began, with a total of 33,949 cases in 24 hours, according to the health surveillance institute, Robert Koch.

The rise is also driven by the figures of Russia (8,162 deaths in the last seven days, + 8% compared to the previous week), Ukraine (3,819 dead, + 1%) and Romania (3,100 deaths, + 4%), mainly.

“We are, again, at the epicenter,” lamented the director of the who Europe, Hans Kluge, adding that “the current rate of transmission in the 53 countries that make up the European region is very worrying.”

For the who, the increase in cases is explained by the combination of insufficient vaccination with a more flexible anti-COVID measures. On average, only 47% of the inhabitants of the region, which includes European countries and others in Central Asia, are fully vaccinated, according to the WHO.

To fight the pandemic, the organization asked to continue with vaccination, use the mask in a generalized way and continue to apply social distancing.

By AFP and EFE

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