However, the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) warns that older people are now becoming infected. According to the ECDC’s latest status report, at least 13 European countries had new infection rates among people aged 65 and over, which last week the ECDC defined as “high” – 64 per 100,000 in Croatia and 206 per 100,000 in the Netherlands.
A sharp increase in infections in the elderly in recent weeks can be seen in almost all European countries where data is available.
In some Eastern European countries, the Covid-19 infection rate between the ages of 65 and above is now more than double what it was during the first wave – more than 100 in the Czech Republic, Romania, Slovenia and Hungary.
The rate of infection in the elderly is more worrying as the elderly are more likely to be hospitalized and have a higher risk of death.
According to the World Health Organization, 88% of deaths in Europe were in the age group over the year August, by the end of August. In the Czech Republic, there were 14% of infections in the week over 65, but by October 11, 94% had died.
As the infection begins to spread among the elderly, hospitals quickly collapse – as they did in Italy, Spain and other countries during the first wave of the virus in spring Italy.
According to the latest available data from the Department of Health and Social Care, the number of people who tested positive in the UK has quadrupled since early September.
Professor Jonathan Van-Tam, deputy chief medical officer for England, told a government news conference last week that the rate of infection, originally found in young people, had recently begun to “crush” in older age groups.
The Robert Koch Institute, Germany’s center for disease control, warned in its latest status report on Monday that the “proportion of cases in the elderly age group” has been rising since early September.
In France, the number of new Covid-19 cases among people aged 65 and over has tripled in just six weeks, according to the French Health Agency.
And data from Spain shows that the median age of people newly diagnosed with the virus dropped from 40 in late July to 37 in late August, most recently rising to 39 again.
The transmission of the infection to younger and older age groups has also been documented elsewhere.
Many European countries are now running against the clock to protect their health systems from overload.
And while the first suggestions in the epidemic were that if the elderly could be somehow protected from the virus, then the rest of society should be able to survive normally, most governments are now realizing that the plan has failed.
As cases escalated, Ireland announced on Monday that it would avenge a six-week lockdown from Wednesday.
The Spanish government declared a state of emergency in the Madrid region about two weeks ago. On Tuesday, it said it was also considering imposing a curfew, which could be extended to other parts of the country.
In the United Kingdom, Wales will go through a two-week “fire break” lockdown from Friday, the country’s first prime minister, Mark Dreckford, said on Monday.
Many French cities, including Paris, Grenoble, Montpellier, Toulouse, Lille and Lyon, have curfews between 9pm and 6am.
Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte on Sunday unveiled a new set of tougher sanctions, the fifth consecutive day the country has recorded a new number of positive tests. Crucially, Conte has given the Italian mayor the power to impose a curfew in public areas after 9 p.m.
Experts say a comprehensive lockdown is needed to rescue the elderly and vulnerable.
“We’ve seen an increase in the number of cases,” Patrick Vallens, the UK’s chief scientific adviser, told a briefing last month. It started in young people in their 20s and gradually spread to old age. “This increase in the number of cases has translated into an increase in hospital admissions. Like hospital admissions …. very sad but not unexpected, deaths are also on the rise.”
CNN’s Hillary McGagan, Sarah Dean, Vasco Kotovio and Nina Avarmova in London, Nicola Rutolo in Rome and Pierre Barin and Eva Tier Piro in Paris reported.
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