LONDON (AP) — The World Health Organization said Tuesday that coronavirus cases have tripled in Europe in the past six weeks, accounting for nearly half of all infections worldwide. Hospitalization rates have also doubled, although intensive care admissions remain low.
In a statement on Tuesday, WHO Europe Director Dr Hans Kluge described COVID-19 as a “disgusting and potentially deadly disease” that people should not underestimate. He said superinfectious relatives of the omicron variant are causing new waves of disease across the continent, and that repeated infections could potentially lead to prolonged COVID.
“With increasing cases, we are also seeing an increase in hospitalizations, which will only increase in the fall and winter months,” Kluge said. “This forecast presents a huge challenge to the health workforce in country after country, which is already under enormous pressure, dealing with unrelenting crises since 2020.”
Earlier this week, editors of two British medical journals said the country’s National Health Service had never before had so many parts of the system so close to collapse.
Kamran Abbasi of the BMJ and Alastair McLellan of the Health Service Journal write in a joint editorial that the UK government is failing to tackle persistent problems exacerbated by COVID, including ambulances queuing up at hospitals too overwhelmed to admit new patients.
They criticized the government’s insistence that vaccines had broken the link between infections and hospitalizations. Although vaccines dramatically reduce the chances of severe illness and death, they have not made a significant dent in transmission.
“The government must stop erasing the public and be honest about the threat the pandemic still poses to it and the NHS,” the editors wrote.
The WHO published its autumn strategy on COVID-19 on Tuesday. The UN health agency has called for a second booster dose of the vaccine for everyone aged 5 and over with a weak immune system, encouraging the wearing of masks indoors and on public transport and better ventilation in schools, offices and other places.
Kluge said countries in the Southern Hemisphere are currently experiencing a very active flu season, which combined with COVID is straining health systems.
“We will probably see a similar scenario in the Northern Hemisphere,” Kluge said, warning that increased pressure could lead to business, travel and school chaos.
He urged people to make their own decisions, even in countries where authorities have largely abandoned coronavirus restrictions.
“We are all aware of the tools we have to protect ourselves, assess our level of risk and take the necessary steps to protect others if we become infected,” Kluge said. “Just because a mask is optional doesn’t mean it’s prohibited.”
Add Comment