Europe

Home page

Europe

Europe Covid death toll likely to exceed two million by March, warns WHO

23 November 2021 18:58 (UTC +04:00)

Europe’s coronavirus death toll is likely to exceed two million by March, the World Health Organization (WHO) has warned, APA reports citing The Guardian.

The global health agency said that Europe remains “in the firm grip” of the pandemic. Daily deaths have risen to nearly 4,200 a day – double the figure for the end of September.

Reported Covid deaths have already exceeded 1.5m for the region’s 53 countries and the virus is the number one cause of death across Europe and central Asia.

The WHO said it expects there to be “high or extreme stress on hospital beds in 25 countries, and high or extreme stress in intensive care units (ICUs) in 49 out of 53 countries between now and March 2022”.

It predicted that under current trends cumulative reported deaths will reach over 2.2 million by spring.

Dr Hans Kluge, WHO regional director for Europe, said:

In order to live with this virus and continue our daily lives, we need to take a ‘vaccine plus’ approach.

This means getting the standard doses of vaccine, taking a booster if offered, as well as incorporating preventive measures into our normal routines.

Taken together, wearing a mask, washing hands, ventilating indoor spaces, keeping physical distance and sneezing into your elbow are simple, effective ways of gaining control over the virus and keeping societies going.

All of us have the opportunity and responsibility to help avert unnecessary tragedy and loss of life, and limit further disruption to society and businesses over this winter season.

The WHO said the three main factors driving Europe’s high case rate are the highly transmissible Delta variant, the unvaccinated and waning immunity and the way some governments have indicated to people that the pandemic “no longer represents an emergency threat” and have eased restrictions.

Kluge added:

Today, the Covid-19 situation across Europe and central Asia is very serious.

We face a challenging winter ahead but we should not be without hope, because all of us – governments, health authorities, individuals – can take decisive action to stabilise the pandemic.