(Berlin) The World Health Organization (WHO) was alarmed Thursday at the “very worrying” rate of transmission of COVID-19 in Europe, which could lead to half a million additional deaths on the continent of here February.
This fourth “massive” wave particularly hits Germany, which on Thursday beat its record for daily infections dating from December 2020, with 33,949 new infections in 24 hours.
“We are, again, at the epicenter,” lamented WHO Europe director Hans Kluge during an online press conference.
“The current rate of transmission in the 53 countries of the European region is very worrying […]. If we stay on this trajectory, we could see another half a million deaths from COVID-19 in the region by February, ”he warned.
For the WHO, the increase in cases is explained by the combination of insufficient vaccination coverage and the relaxation of anti-COVID-19 measures.
According to data from WHO Europe, hospitalizations related to COVID-19 have more than doubled in one week.
Massive use of masks
The milestone of five million deaths caused by the COVID-19 pandemic was crossed Monday evening. Europe alone has recorded more than 1.4 million deaths.
The number of new cases per day has been on the rise for almost six consecutive weeks in Europe and the number of new deaths per day has been on the rise for just over seven consecutive weeks, with around 250,000 cases and 3,600 daily deaths, according to the reports. official data by country compiled by AFP.
The current increase is notably driven by Russia (8,162 deaths in the last seven days, + 8% compared to the previous week), Ukraine (3,819 deaths, + 1%) and Romania (3,100 deaths, + 4%) .
“Most people hospitalized and dying from COVID-19 today are not fully vaccinated,” Kluge said.
On average, according to the WHO, only 47% of people in the region, which includes European countries and several in Central Asia, have received two doses of the vaccine.
To fight the pandemic, the organization called for continued vaccination, massive use of masks and social distancing measures.
“Reliable projections show that if we achieve a 95% use rate of masks in Europe and Central Asia, we could save up to 188,000 lives out of the half a million lives we stand to lose.” by February 2022, ”noted Mr. Kluge.
In Germany, 19,702 daily cases have been recorded on average over the last 7 days, a number that had not been reached since the end of April.
“Certain carelessness”
“The situation is serious”, commented on the public channel ZDF Helge Braun, right-hand man of Angela Merkel in the chancellery. “We are already seeing a massive load (in hospitals) in Thuringia and Saxony”, two particularly affected regions, in the former GDR.
The ministers of health of the federal government and of the German regions could decide on new restrictive measures.
But the resumption of the epidemic is taking place in Germany in a complicated political context, with a government reduced since the last legislative elections to deal with current affairs, pending the outcome of ongoing negotiations for a new coalition between social workers. Democrats, Greens and Liberals.
Outgoing Chancellor Angela Merkel said this weekend was “very worried” about the evolution of the pandemic, saying in particular “very saddened” at the high number of people over 60 years unvaccinated and regretting the return “d ‘a certain recklessness’.
The Minister of Health, Jens Spahn, called on all the regions, competent for health issues, to toughen the rules for the unvaccinated by preventing them from entering certain public places or by requiring an expensive PCR test.
The novel coronavirus pandemic has killed at least 5,012,784 people worldwide since the WHO office in China reported the onset of the disease at the end of December 2019, according to a report established by AFP from from official sources. The WHO estimates, taking into account the excess mortality directly and indirectly linked to COVID-19, that the toll of the pandemic could be two to three times higher.