The cases of COVID-19 in the world are rising again and Europe is once again the epicenter of the pandemic and is at a “critical point”, says the World Health Organization.
“Twenty-two months since the first cases of COVID-19 were reported, and almost a year since the first vaccines were approved, reported cases and deaths from COVID-19 are increasing again,” said the Director General of the Organization.
Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus also recalled that more than five million deaths have already been registered, although “we know that the real figure is higher.” And he stressed that the pandemic is not over when he stressed that “we continue to lose more than 50,000 of our brothers and sisters every week.”
Dr. Tedros said it is something that “should not be happening” because we have the tools to prevent it.
Worldwide, last week 56 countries from all regions reported an increase in the number of deaths of more than 10%.
Increase in cases in Europe
In the last four weeks, Europe has seen an increase of more than 55% in new cases of COVID-19. The UN agency highlighted as more worrying the “rapid” increase in infections in older people, and that 75% of deaths are of people over 65 years of age.
In addition, the percentage of hospital admissions has also doubled in the last week.
Despite the near-record number of COVID-19 cases, new deaths are roughly half their peak levels a year ago. This reflects the effects of vaccination.
In Europe and Central Asia, one billion doses have been administered, but the coverage is very uneven. On average, 47% of the population has the complete pattern, but while eight countries have already exceeded 70% coverage, in two the rate is still below 10%. Where vaccine uptake is low – in many countries in the Baltic, Central and Eastern Europe, and the Balkans – hospital admission rates are high.
