Written By: Longjam Dineshwori | Updated : November 6, 2021 9:45 AM IST
Europe facing threat of another critical point of the resurgence of the pandemic.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has warned that Europe is once again at the epicentre of the Covid-19 pandemic. In the past four weeks, the European Region saw a staggering 55-plus per cent increase in new Covid-19 infections, and as many as 1.8 million new cases and 24,000 new deaths were registered in the region last week. The WHO European Region now accounts for 59 per cent of all cases globally and 48 per cent of all reported deaths, the organisation said.
Expressing concern over the high Covid transmission rate across the 53 countries of the WHO European Region, Hans Kluge, WHO's Regional Director for Europe, on Thursday cautioned that Europe is now "at another critical point of the resurgence of the pandemic."
Daily infections reached record highs over the past few days in several countries including Germany, France, Poland and Netherlands.
On Friday, Germany registered record 37,120 new infections in one day. Germany's Health Minister Jens Spahn said that "the fourth wave is coming with full force" and has clearly picked up speed with record infection figures in the last 18 months.
While France reported 8,998 new cases and 28 deaths in a 24-hour span, Poland added 15,904 new cases and 152 deaths over the past 24 hours to Friday morning, according to media reports. On the other hand, the Netherlands recorded over 10,000 new infections in one day, the first time since July 18, as per official data updated on Thursday.
Romania is among the hardest-hit nations in the European region, The country's Covid-19 related death toll reached 50,087 on Friday.
Kluge blamed insufficient vaccination rates and the relaxation of preventive public health and social measures for Europe's Covid surge.
According to him, on average only 47 per cent of people in the European Region have been fully vaccinated. While eight countries have now exceeded 70 per cent coverage, the rate remains below ten per cent in two countries.
But expert say even achieving 70 per cent vaccine coverage is not sufficient to contain the spread of the virus, we need to increase it to more than 95 per cent.
Speaking to Xinhua, Martin McKee, Professor of European public Health at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM), stressed that need for a 'vaccine plus' strategy, which combines high rates of vaccination with continued mitigation measures, in particular improved ventilation and face masks.
With inputs from agencies
