Geneva: According to the chief of the World Health Organization’s regional office, a 53-country region in Europe and Central Asia faces a “serious threat” of a reappearance of the coronavirus pandemic in the coming weeks or is already witnessing a new wave of infections.
Case counts are nearing record levels again, according to Dr. Hans Kluge, and the rate of transmission in the region, which spans as far east as the former Soviet republics of Central Asia, is causing ‘great concern.’ The WHO’s approval of Covaxin will make it easier for Indians to travel abroad.
He claims that the difference now is that health officials are better informed about the virus and have more effective tools to fight it. According to him, the recent spike is due to inadequate preventative measures and low vaccination rates in some locations. COVID-19-related hospitalisation rates in the 53-country region have more than doubled in the last week, according to Kluge.
According to him, if the current trend continues, the region could see another 500,000 pandemic deaths by February. According to WHO Europe, the region saw about 1.8 million new weekly cases, up around 6% from the previous week, and 24,000 COVID-19 weekly deaths, up 12%. The World Health Organization’s headquarters in Geneva said on Wednesday that COVID-19 infections have grown in Europe for the fifth week in a row, making it the only region in the world where the virus is still spreading. The infection rate was the highest in Europe, with 192 new cases per 100,000 individuals reported.