In a sixth consecutive week, Covid-19 cases continue to surge enormously across Europe. The World Health Organization on Wednesday said that coronavirus deaths rose by 10% in the continent in a week’s time, making it the only region in the world where both Covid-19 cases and deaths are steadily increasing.
Globally, the countries with the highest numbers of new cases are the United States, Russia, Britain, Turkey and Germany. However, the number of weekly COVID-19 deaths fell by about 4% worldwide and declined in every region except Europe.
In its weekly report on the pandemic, the U.N. health agency said there were about 3.1 million new cases globally, about a 1% increase from the previous week. Nearly two-thirds of the coronavirus infections – 1.9 million – were in Europe, where cases rose by 7%.
What Has Caused the Spurt in Covid Cases in Europe?
To begin with, it is the region’s slow and chaotic vaccination.
Last week, the director of WHO’s 53-country Europe region, Dr. Hans Kluge, said the rising COVID-19 case counts are of “grave concern.” and called the region “the epicenter of the pandemic, where we were one year ago”.
“There may be plenty of vaccine available, but uptake of vaccine has not been equal,” WHO emergencies chief Dr. Michael Ryan said during a press briefing on November 4. He called for European authorities to “close the gap” in vaccinations.
However, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said countries that have immunized more than 40% of their populations should stop and instead donate their doses to developing countries that have yet to offer their citizens a first dose.
“No more boosters should be administered except to immuno-compromised people,” Tedros said.
WHO Europe says the region, which stretches as far east as the former Soviet republics in Central Asia, tallied nearly 1.8 million new weekly cases, an increase of about 6% from the previous week, and 24,000 COVID-19 weekly deaths — a 12% gain.
In Germany, the head of the national disease control center said that infection rates have risen “rapidly,” with significantly more patients in intensive care and deaths rising above 100 per day on some recent occasions.
“Unfortunately, the fourth wave is developing exactly as we had feared, because not enough people are vaccinated and because measures … are no longer being implemented sufficiently,” Robert Koch Institute President Lothar Wieler said in Berlin. He cited measures such as mask-wearing and distancing, and restrictions on people who haven’t been vaccinated or tested using some facilities.
Meanwhile, lack of free tests, too, has contributed to the rise in Covid-19 in Germany. State Premier of Bavaria, a German state, Markus Soeder told tests should be offered free of charge again, vaccination centres should be reactivated and states and the federal government must coordinate their strategies.
The country had abolished free testing to incentivise people to get shots, charging them instead 19 euros per test.
In France, President Emmanuel Macron has issued a mass appeal for people to get booster shots to fight rising virus infections that are raising concerns across Europe.
Anyone over 65 who was vaccinated more than six months ago will need to get a booster shot by mid-December for their “health pass” to remain valid, Macron said on Tuesday.
Booster shots, currently authorised in France for anyone over 65 or with underlying health conditions, will be expanded to those 50 and over in December, Macron said.
“Each of us must play our part” to avoid a deadly “fifth wave” of the pandemic, Macron said in a televised speech.
High Infection Rates in Central Europe
Coronavirus cases have also soared to a new record high in Slovakia this week.
The Slovak Health Ministry reported that the daily increase of new infections hit 7,055 on Tuesday, surpassing the previous record last week.
The number of people needing hospital treatment also rose to a total of 2,478, with 370 admitted this week, the ministry said. About 80% of those hospitalised have not been fully vaccinated.
“We’re facing a catastrophic development in hospitals,” President Zuzana Čaputová said, adding that the vaccination rate needs to “significantly speed up”.
In the neighbouring Czech Republic, new infections jumped to levels close to record numbers seen in January and March, authorities said.
Both Slovakia and the Czech Republic are below the EU average of citizens who have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19.
The two countries are each discussing additional measures to limit the spread of the virus.
A Crisis in Bulgaria
Bulgaria cried for help on Wednesday, activating the European bloc’s civil protection mechanism, an emergency designation in which member states request assistance with disasters or other emergencies. It requested oxygen devices, patient monitors and hospital beds.
Bulgaria reported 334 COVID-19 patient deaths on Tuesday. It was country’s highest daily toll since the start of the pandemic.
Read all the Latest News here
Comments
0 comment