As the coronavirus situation in Europe worsens, the World Health Organisation's (WHO) latest data has shown the continent accounted for nearly 70% of new Covid-19 cases reported globally last week.
A total of 3.59 million cases were recorded worldwide last week, of which nearly 2.5 million (around 70%) were identified in Europe, the WHO announced on Tuesday evening in its weekly epidemiological report. Since the start of the pandemic, more than 258 million have been infected globally.
Europe was the only region where the number of new infections actually increased over a week, while the week-on-week increase in the number of new cases in Europe has risen to 11%, 5% higher than the overall increase recorded worldwide.
Nearly 40% of countries in the region (24 out of the 61) reported an increase in new cases of over 10%, while a quarter of countries reported an increase in new deaths of more than 10% in the past week.
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However, as the vaccination coverage rate is high in most European countries, the number of deaths overall rose by just 3% last week, far less than in the Americas or, worse still, in the Western Pacific, where the increase was 29%.
Since the end of September, the number of daily deaths linked to the pandemic has doubled. The death toll as a result of the virus globally currently sits at over 5.1 million, according to the latest information from the John Hopkins' resource centre.
Earlier in the day on Tuesday, the WHO expressed concern that the “firm grip” of the Covid-19 epidemic in Europe could lead to an additional 700,000 deaths by spring.
Curbing infections
In Europe, the highest numbers of new cases were reported in Germany (333,473 new cases; a 31% increase since last week), while the number of reported cases in the United States and the United Kingdom, as well as Russia, has also dramatically increased.
The worsening coronavirus situation across Europe is resulting in some countries imposing stricter measures for unvaccinated people and even lockdowns to curb the spread of the infection.
In Belgium, too, the situation is worsening, as the second-highest number of infections is being recorded since the start of the pandemic, and according to virologist Steven Van Gucht, infection rates are not showing any signs of slowing down.
In light of the current situation, Flemish Minister-President Jan Jambon stated that the Consultative Committee, which decides whether new rules will be implemented, can meet to discuss new measures at an hour’s notice if necessary, however, Prime Minister Alexander De Croo has said Belgium is not considering a new lockdown.
Instead, the Consultative Committee decided on a range of measures last week that recently came into force, including the expansion of mandatory face masks and mandatory homeworking, to curb infections.
