The last weekly report released on Tuesday states that the European region accounted for 44% of global new cases last week and %%% of global new deaths.
While the number of new cases in the sector is declining on a weekly basis, the death toll is still rising, with 32,684 new casualties reported in the previous seven days.
This update is coming across countries across the continent on how to allow people to celebrate the upcoming holidays, including Christmas, and to alleviate economic hardship in business while facing epidemics.
Both France and the United Kingdom will plan for next week on Tuesday based on a reduction in infection rates following the lockdown measures.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Wednesday urged EU leaders not to ease their coronavirus sanctions too quickly.
“I know that shop owners, bartenders and waiters in restaurants want to end the ban, but we must learn from the summer and not repeat the same mistakes,” he told the European Parliament in Brussels. “It’s a risk to rest too fast and too much for the third wave after Christmas.”
Von der Leyen said he had warned weeks ago that this Christmas would be different and quieter than usual and called for unity among European countries.
But, he added, “there is also good news, the European Commission has so far signed vaccination agreements with six pharmaceutical companies, first European citizens can be vaccinated before the end of December, and finally it is light tunnel.”
The European Commission announced on Tuesday that it had won an agreement with the pharmaceutical company Moderna for 160 million doses of its Covid-19 vaccine.
According to the WHO report, the global acceleration in cases has slowed down in the past week, with about 4 million new cases reported. However, with more than 67,000 new deaths reported worldwide, the death toll continues to rise.
The number of new cases reported in the European region fell 6% to 1.77 million last week, down 10% from the previous week, the report said. . ”
But despite this downward trend, “the European region is the biggest contributor to new cases and new deaths in the last 7 days,” the report said. The European region, as defined by the WHO, consists of 53 countries.
Italy has the highest number of new cases reported in the region and the third highest number of cases globally at 235,979, but, according to the WHO, case peaks could occur in view of the 3% decline reported there. The number of new deaths in the country rose 26% to 4,578 last week.
The U.S. region is the second largest global contributor to new cases and deaths, according to the WHO, with 1.6 million new cases – up 11% from the previous week – and 22,005 new deaths, up 15% from the previous week.
Most of them were in the United States, which reported 1.1 million new cases, a 1% increase over the previous week, while the death rate in the U.S. rose 9% to 9,181. Was born. The U.S. region has the highest number of accumulated cases and deaths, according to WHO figures.
The UK is planning a ‘Christmas bubble’
Despite some positive signs, parts of Europe are still reeling from a second wave of Covid-19 infections.
The country’s disease and control agency, the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), said Wednesday that 410 deaths related to coronavirus have been reported in Germany in the last 24 hours – the highest one-day jump in deaths since the outbreak, the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), the country’s disease and Control agency, said Wednesday.
This is the first time that more than 400 Kovid-19 deaths have been reported in a single day by Germany. R.K.I. Accordingly, a total of 18,633 new infections have been reported in the last 24 hours.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel is scheduled to meet with state governors on Wednesday to discuss new measures to control the increase. Steps to be discussed include the extension of current, lighter restrictions until the end of December, additional mask orders for schools and further restrictions on the number of public contacts.
Meanwhile, 674 coronavirus deaths were reported in Poland on Wednesday, a new daily record for the country. Its health ministry tweeted that the total number of deaths linked to Covid-19 had reached 14,888. Also in the last few days, 15,362 new cases were reported, bringing the total number of cases to 942,442.
According to the latest figures from Johns Hopkins University, there has been some relief from the recent WHO figures for the United Kingdom, which has suffered the highest number of deaths related to covid in Europe.
The UK saw a 13% drop in new cases since last week, with a record 149,027, while the number of new deaths remained the same, according to the WHO. The decline in new cases was the first weekly decline since the end of August, the report said.
A month-long partial lockdown in England is set to end on December 2, with three-tier restrictions being replaced based on local infection rates. Developed governments in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have taken their own steps.
The UK government said on Tuesday it would allow the creation of “Christmas bubbles” in as many as three homes in the UK between 23 and 28 December and blended indoors, outdoors and in places of worship. The government said there would be no restrictions on travel across the country during that period, even if some areas are under stricter measures than others, the government said.
“This may not be a ‘normal’ Christmas. But as we get closer to the festive period, we are working together to find a way for family and friends to see each other, albeit for a while, and we will recognize it.” That a government news release said both should be limited and cautious.
Macron: We avoided the worst
Emanuel Macron, president around the French Channel, said the country would begin lifting the Covid-19 lockdown ban this week due to the slowdown caused by the spread of the virus.
Addressing the nation, Macron said the latest figures show that more than 50,000 people have died from Covid-19 in France, but the number of patients in the ICU is declining. “It looks like the peak of the second wave of epidemics has passed; we frightened even worse numbers and avoided them,” he said.
By Saturday, shops, boutiques and hairdressers will be allowed to open until 9pm, but people will need to have a certificate for valid reasons to leave home. Internal travel restrictions will also be relaxed and at the same time a maximum of 30 people can gather and reopen places of worship.
The lockdown could be lifted further on December 15, if the number of daily cases falls below 5,000,000 and the hospital’s ICU has only 2,000,000 to 1,000,000 patients. “So we will once again be able to travel without authorization, including between the fields, and spend Christmas with our family.”
In that case, French cinemas, theaters and museums will also be allowed to open, but bars, clubs and restaurants will remain closed. There will be a curfew from 9pm to 7am except Christmas and New Year.
Maron Crowe said the decision to start a ski and winter sports resort has not yet been made but warned that “it is impossible to imagine an opening for the holidays.” From January 20, the third phase of the facilitation of opening of restraints can proceed if the number of daily cases falls below 5,000.
The vaccination for those most at risk was expected to begin in late December or early January, the president said.
Belgian industries urge reopening
As Belgium’s neighbors began opening their stores, the Belgian Commerce and Services Federation, Comoz, warned that the country would become “not an island of closed shops, but an island of bankrupt shops, while Belgian money is spent abroad.”
“If everything stays closed with us, everyone will also cross the border for Christmas shopping,” Dominic Mitchell, CEO of Quios, said in a statement.
Half of all Belgians live within 50 kilometers (31 miles) of the international border, according to Comos, which represents Belgium’s 18 business sectors and more than 400,000 employees.
Earlier this week, the Belgian National Emergency Center urged Belgians not to travel abroad during Christmas and New Year, warning travels to neighboring countries would “cancel our efforts” to reduce the spread of coronavirus.
Belgium’s advisory committee, made up of leaders of the three regional governments and the federal government, is due to meet on Friday to assess the steps taken by existing venues and discuss how the country will be able to celebrate Christmas.
Belgium’s strict lockdown measures were put in place on November 2 and are set to run until December 13.
Announcing the lockdown, Prime Minister Alexander D’Croe said a decision on reopening shops and services was likely by December 1.
CNN’s Antonia Mortensen, Frederick Platzen, Lindsay Isaac and Pierre Bairy contributed to the report.
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