According to the WHO, coronavirus mortality in Europe climbed by 5% in the previous week, making it the only area in the globe where COVID-19 deaths have increased. Confirmed cases increased by 6% globally, according to the UN health agency, with rises in the Americas, Europe, and Asia driving the surge.
COVID-19 mortality in all locations other than Europe remained unchanged or reduced last week, according to WHO’s weekly update on the pandemic, which was released late Tuesday. Europe was responsible for 2.1 million of the 3.3 million new cases recorded.
COVID-19 instances increased for the seventh week in a row throughout the 61 nations that make up WHO’s European area, which runs from Russia to Central Asia.
While roughly 60% of persons in Western Europe have been fully immunized against COVID-19, just about half of those in Eastern Europe have been vaccinated, as officials struggle to overcome widespread vaccination apprehension.
Since July, the number of illnesses across Africa, the Middle East, and Southeast Asia has decreased, according to the WHO.
The WHO said that Russia, Germany, and the United Kingdom had the largest number of new cases in Europe. In Norway, deaths increased by 67 percent, while in Slovakia, deaths increased by 38 percent.
The WHO previously described Europe as the epicenter of the ongoing pandemic, warning that if urgent measures are not taken on the continent, 500,000 more people could die by February.
Austria has tightened restrictions on unvaccinated people’s movement, the Netherlands and other European countries have reintroduced lockdown measures to try to slow infections, and the United Kingdom has decided to give booster doses to everyone over the age of 40.
