Nov 5, 2021 - Health

WHO: Europe is again at epicenter of pandemic

Rebecca Falconer

Hans Kluge, European director of World Health Organization (WHO), attends a press conference in Rome, Italy, on February 26 — World Health Organization European director Hans Kluge. Photo: Riccardo De Luca/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

Europe is "back at the epicenter of the pandemic" and approaching record COVID-19 case numbers as the Delta variant spreads and vaccination efforts stall in several regions, a top World Health Organization official warned Thursday.

The big picture: Germany reported Thursday its highest number of new coronavirus infections in one day since the pandemic began (33,949). New cases across Europe have risen 55% in the past four weeks, per WHO European director Hans Kluge. "We are at another critical point of pandemic resurgence," he warned.

There had been 1.8 million new infections and some 24,000 deaths in the European region in the past week alone, Kluge said.
"If we stay on this trajectory, we could see another half a million COVID-19 deaths in Europe and Central Asia by the first of February next year — and 43 countries in our region will face high to extreme stress on hospital beds at some point through the same period," he added.

Of note: "While eight countries have now exceeded 70% coverage, in two countries the rate remains below 10%," Kluge said.

"Where vaccine uptake is low — in many countries in the Baltics, central and eastern Europe, and the Balkans — hospital admission rates are high."
He noted that along with rapid, widespread vaccination, "testing, contact tracing, ventilation in indoor spaces and physical distancing remain part of our arsenal of defenses."

The bottom line: "We must change our tactics, from reacting to surges of Covid-19 to preventing them from happening in the first place," Kluge said.

Go deeper: The global coronavirus vaccine gap

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WHO: Europe is again at epicenter of pandemic

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