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LONDON: Europe surpassed 100,000 daily COVID-19 cases for the first time on Thursday (October 8), after countries like Russia and the UK saw no respite from the rising number of infections every day in the past five days .
Cases across Europe have risen steadily over the past week, even as new infections in the worst-hit countries such as India and Brazil have shown signs of slowing down.
The epicenter of the outbreak in the European region has moved to the United Kingdom, Russia, Spain and France, which have reported at least more than 10,000 cases each in the last three days.
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Russia reported its highest number of daily coronavirus cases since the last record in May on Friday, prompting Moscow authorities to consider closing bars and nightclubs.
The UK recorded more than 17,000 cases on Thursday and the country’s Health Minister Matt Hancock warned that the UK was in a “dangerous time”.
Many parts of northern England, Wales and Scotland have introduced stricter restrictions on social interaction to try to slow the increasing spread of the disease.
Britain has been reeling under a double whammy of skyrocketing coronavirus cases and an alarming 7% fatality rate, among the highest in the world. More than six out of 10,000 people have died from the virus in the country.
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The country’s death rate stands in stark contrast to that of the United States at 2.8 percent, despite the fact that the United States has recorded more than four times the total number of deaths due to the virus compared to Great Britain.
Today, Europe has recorded more than 16 percent of total global coronavirus cases and nearly 22 percent of deaths worldwide due to the virus. On Thursday, when daily reported cases surpassed the 100,000 mark, Eastern Europe was the worst hit region with more than 33,600 cases reported daily.
Among the 10 countries in the region, including Ukraine, Russia and the Czech Republic, eight saw record increases in cases last week.
In northern Europe, Great Britain was the only country with a huge number of cases. New infections in the country have increased more than 2.5 times since the beginning of October and show no signs of slowing down.
Italy, in the southern region of Europe, recorded more than 4,000 cases for the first time since April, when the country was hit by the virus. The daily number of cases in the country has increased steadily for three months.
The country has the second-highest death toll on the continent, with 36,083 dead since the outbreak broke out in February.
Spain’s government invoked a state of emergency on Friday to impose a partial blockade on Madrid. With 850 COVID-19 infections per 100,000 inhabitants, the Madrid area has the highest infection rate in Europe.
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In Western Europe, France recorded daily new COVID-19 infections above the record threshold of 18,000 for two days in a row on Thursday, with hospitals going into emergency mode and its larger cities closing facilities to reduce the spread of the virus.
Belgium also imposed stricter controls on gatherings after new infections emerged in the country. New cases of coronavirus increased more than 2.6 times since the beginning of October. COVID-19 has already claimed more than 10,000 lives in the country, which has a population of 11 million people.
In Europe, daily cases averaged around 78,000 cases since early October, compared to an average of 47,500 cases in September.
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