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AGI – The World Health Organization states that Europe will see an increase in the daily number of deaths from Covid-19 in October and November. Cases in Europe have increased significantly in recent weeks, especially in Spain and France. On Friday alone, more than 51,000 new cases were reported in the 55 countries monitored by WHO in Europe, which the organization says is more than the highest peak in April.
“It will get more and more difficult. In October, November, we will see more mortality,” said WHO Director for Europe Hans Kluge. Although the continent is seeing an increase in cases, the death toll has remained relatively stable. But it is expected that recovery will lead to an increase in daily deathssaid the WHO. “It’s a time when countries don’t want to hear this bad news, and I understand that,” Kluge told AFP in an interview, noting that he wanted to send the “positive message” that the pandemic “will end, in a moment or in the other one “.
More than 50 WHO member states in Europe are hosting an online meeting to discuss their response to the novel coronavirus and agree on their overall five-year strategy. However, Kluge has warned those who believe that the development of a vaccine will end the pandemic. “I’ve heard all the time: ‘The vaccine will be the end of the pandemic‘. Of course not, ”said the Belgian.
“We don’t even know if the vaccine will help all groups in the population. Now we are getting some signals that they will help us in one group and not the other,” he said. “And then if we were to ask for more vaccines, what a logistical nightmare! The end of the pandemic is the moment when we as a community will learn to live with this pandemic. And it is up to us and this is a very positive message.” , said. said.
Risk of politicizing interventions
Kluge cautioned that the approaches were becoming overly politicized, saying it was important that the response be based “on epidemiological and public health data.” He also defended the authorities who have hesitated in recent months to impose and relax measures against a new disease. “The WHO has been blamed a number of times, but communicating about something you don’t really know is very, very difficult,” Kluge said.
As research progresses, knowledge of the virus remains imperfect, meaning that decisions must be made with an incomplete picture. “In several countries we see that politics overwrites scientists and also in other countries we see that people doubt science, which is very dangerous, “said Kluge.
In countries covered by the WHO in Europe, the number of daily deaths has remained roughly the same level since the beginning of June, with around 400 to 500 deaths per day related to Covid-19, according to the agency’s data. Despite the worrying trend, the responses now should not be the same as those obtained in winter and early spring.
“In February we were targeting the company … now we are targeting the virus,” Kluge said, adding that the measures could now be imposed more locally. “If we have a good surveillance system, we should be able to monitor it locally and then in a couple of weeks, relax again,” Kluge said.
