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WHO Warns Europe And Central Asia Of New COVID Wave, Can See 5 lakh Deaths By February

Dr. Hans Kluge stated that Europe is back at the epicentre of the pandemic and there is going to be another critical point

Mumbai: The World Health Organization (WHO) has warned a 53-country region in Europe and Central Asia saying that these areas will face a resurgence of the COVID pandemic in the coming weeks.

The WHO has blamed the soaring caseload on insufficient vaccination coverage and the relaxation of public health and social measures saying Europe could see another half a million COVID-19 deaths by February.

Dr. Hans Kluge, WHO Regional Director for Europe, said Europe and Central Asia can save up to 188,000 lives of half a million if 95% of people wear masks.

Over the last four weeks, the region saw a 55% increase in new covid cases, while Europe and Central Asia together accounted for 59% of global cases and 48% of reported deaths. They also informed that last week the hospitalization rate in these regions have more than doubled.

Dr. Kluge told reporters from the WHO Europe headquarters in Copenhagen, Denmark that we are at another critical point of pandemic resurgence, adding that Europe is back at the epicentre of the pandemic.

However, he also added that the health authorities know more about the virus and have better tools to combat it.

Blaming the resurgence on relaxed prevention measures and low vaccination rates in some areas, Kluge said that hospital admission rates were higher in countries with lower vaccination rates.

WHO Europe says the region saw an increase of about 6% from the previous week, making the tally nearly 1.8 million new weekly cases. Meanwhile, 24,000 COVID-19 weekly deaths were recorded which is a 12% gain.

According to a WHO report, one billion vaccine doses have been administered in the region, but only about 47% of people in the region are fully vaccinated.

Along with the Delta variant, AY. 4.2 and AY.4.3 has also been detected from several European countries.

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