Coronavirus: Europe passes 10 million cases, is back to being pandemic epicentre, says WHO
- Region reaches new weekly record, with 1.5 million new infections confirmed last week and deaths rising by more than 30 per cent
- Positivity rates hitting new highs and many cases spreading unchecked, says WHO Europe director Hans Kluge
The World Health Organization’s Europe director said on Thursday that the 54-country region has again reached a new weekly record for confirmed cases, with more than 1.5 million confirmed last week and more than 10 million since the start of the pandemic.
During a meeting with European health ministers, WHO European regional director Dr Hans Kluge said, “hospitalisations have risen to levels unseen since the spring” and that deaths have risen by more than 30 per cent in the last week.
“Europe is at the epicentre of this pandemic once again,” Kluge said. “At the risk of sounding alarmist, I must express our very real concern.”
Testing systems have been unable to keep up with widespread levels of transmission, and “test positivity levels have reached new highs”, with most European countries exceeding 5 per cent and many cases spreading unchecked, he said.
Along with the usual European countries, WHO includes Russia and some central Asian countries like Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan in its Europe region.