Coronavirus: warning for Europe as WHO reports record one-day increase in global cases

The World Health Organisation expects Europe to see a rise in the daily number of Covid-19 deaths in October and November, the head of the body’s European branch said on Monday.

“It’s going to get tougher. In October, November, we are going to see more mortality,” WHO Europe director Hans Kluge said, as the continent currently experiences a surge of cases – though the number of deaths has remained relatively stable.

The resurgence is however expected to lead to an increase in daily deaths, the WHO said.

The number of cases in Europe has risen sharply in recent weeks, especially in Spain and France. On Friday alone, more than 51,000 new cases were reported in the 55 countries of the WHO Europe, which is more than the highest peak in April, according to the organisation.

The warning came after the WHO reported 307,930 new cases worldwide on Sunday, the highest daily figure in its database since the beginning of the pandemic.

That brought the reported global total to almost 29 million with more than 923,000 Covid-19 deaths, according Johns Hopkins University tally.