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Image posted, Reuters
Coronavirus deaths are on the rise across Europe as the second wave of the pandemic comes at a high price
The World Health Organization has warned that there are six “difficult” months ahead for Europe, which has once again become the epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic.
Hans Kluge, Europe Officer at the World Health Organization, said the continent recorded more than 29,000 new deaths from COVID-19 last week.
“This equates to the death of one person every 17 seconds,” he said in testimony Thursday.
However, he said that new cases are currently declining, due to the limit imposed in many countries on the number of infections.
When the second wave of the epidemic intensified in October, most European countries re-imposed strict measures to stop the spread of the disease.
So far, Europe has witnessed 15 million, 738,179 confirmed cases and 354,154 deaths from Corona.
Most of these injuries and deaths occurred in the United Kingdom, Russia, France, Spain, Italy, and Germany. In Europe, the United Kingdom registered the highest number of deaths, 53,870 cases, while France has the highest number of injuries, with 2,115,000 and 717 injured.
Klug said that Europe is responsible for 28% of world cases and 26% of deaths.
He was particularly concerned about the situation in Switzerland and France, with almost 95 percent of intensive care units occupied.
“Europe is once again the epicenter of the epidemic, along with the United States,” Kluge told a news conference in Copenhagen. He added: “There is light at the end of the tunnel, but it will be a difficult six months.”
The development of vaccines, which enable the immune system to fight the virus, raised hopes that the epidemic would be brought under control.
Results from four vaccine trials from Oxford, Pfizer-BioTec, Sputnik and Moderna have shown a good start.
Klug said that the recent development of the vaccines was promising, but that it would not be “a magic bullet because we know that production and distribution will be limited, especially in the beginning.”
Meanwhile, he said that social distancing and wearing a mask are some of the best ways to limit the spread of the virus.
“Closures can be avoided,” Klug said. “I hold my position that closure is the last measure.” He added that “mask use is by no means a panacea, and should be done in addition to other measures. However, if mask use reaches 95%, then there will be no need for closures.”
And in France, which is experiencing its second national lockdown, the use of masks has become mandatory in many cities, including the capital Paris, even for children over the age of six.
On Thursday, French Health Minister Olivier Ferrand said that while it was too early to lift the restrictions, the virus was not spreading as widely as before the latest measures were taken.
He said at a press conference that the anxiety and uncertainty generated by the epidemic are affecting the mental health of the population, but “we must not underestimate our efforts.”
