WHO looks with concern towards Europe given the increase in coronavirus cases in several countries

The World Health Organization (WHO) looks with concern towards Europe given the increase in cases and hospitalizations that have been registered in some countries.

The WHO European region – which includes 53 countries in Europe and Central Asia – recorded about a week ago almost 1.8 million new infections and 24,000 deaths.

Faced with this situation, the health entity has warned that in about three months they could register half a million deaths with 43 countries with a “high or maximum pressure” in their health systems.

Experts point to “insufficient” vaccination and the relaxation of measures as causes of this increase in incidence. Although, they believe that the return to work in person or the presence of the delta variant are also influencing.

Germany hits new high in pandemic

Germany has passed 200 cases per 100,000 inhabitants reaching a new high since the pandemic began.

According to the latest data provided by the Robert Koch Institute, the cumulative incidence stands at 201.1 after registering 15,513 infections and 33 deaths.

Last Thursday the number of patients with COVID-19 in the ICU was 2,332 -106 more in one day-, which represents an occupation of 10.4% of beds available in critical care units for the adult population. As of Friday, 69.7% of Germany’s population had been vaccinated, 67.1% with the complete pattern.

UK incidence exceeds 790 cases

The situation in the UK regarding the coronavirus pandemic is also worrying. On the last day they recorded almost 30,000 new infections and 62 deaths from COVID-19.

Currently, the Cumulative incidence stands at 794.06 cases per 100,000 inhabitants. The highest in all of Europe.

Regarding vaccination, 68.2% of the population has the complete regimen and 74.6% have one dose.

France chains weeks of increased infections

The number of people infected with coronavirus in France has been growing for weeks. This Sunday they were notified 8,547 infections and 10 deaths, while the number of patients in hospitals increased that day by 42 to 6,709 and that of admitted to the ucis by 2 to 1,101.

Although, the health authorities consider that the situation is not as negative as in other neighboring countries because 74.5% of the population has the complete vaccination schedule.

Since this summer in France, the COVID certificate is mandatory to carry out many activities of daily life, such as using long-distance public transport, going to the cinema, a show or a stadium and even eating in a restaurant.

Denmark regains COVID passport after lifting restrictions in September

Danish Government to reintroduce COVID passport two months after removing the last restrictions in force. The reason is the strong increase in new cases and hospital admissions, which have tripled in a month and represent the highest figure since mid-February.

Denmark became on September 10 one of the first European countries to eliminate all restrictions, considering the pandemic controlled and due to the high level of vaccinated population, although the Government already warned then that the restrictions they could come back if the situation worsened.

75.3% of the total Danish population have received the full regimen and 6.6% the booster dose. This country has one of the lowest mortality rates in Europe, with 47.14 deaths per 100,000 inhabitants.

Italy accelerates the third dose before the approach of Christmas

Italian authorities view Christmas wisely due to the growth of infections in the country and in the rest of Europe. For this reason, it has been arranged to accelerate in the coming days the inoculation of the third dose of the coronavirus vaccines at more age stages.

This has been announced by the Minister of Health, Roberto Speranza, who considers that Italy is currently better than other countries such as Germany, France or the United Kingdom, because the 86.5% of the population is vaccinated with one dose.

In this sense, he pointed out that now the priority of the national health authorities is to accelerate the inoculation of the third dose, that is currently injected into people over 60 years of age and the most vulnerable groups, and also to start vaccinating children between 5 and 11 years old, which number about four million, when the European Medicines Agency (EMA) and the Italian AIFA den green light.

Italy has registered in the last hours almost 7,000 new infections and accumulates 4,802,225 total cases since February 2020, of which 132,365 have died.

The WHO congratulates Spain for the management of the pandemic and the vaccination plan

The situation in Spain is less worrying than that of other European countries. Something that may be due, in large part, to the advance of vaccination.

In fact, the Minister of Health, Carolina Darias, has held a bilateral meeting with the WHO regional director for Europe, Hans Kluge, who has valued the success of vaccination against COVID-19 and the management of the pandemic in Spain claiming that it is “an example for all”. As reported by the Ministry of Health through a statement, the meeting, which took place in the Moncloa Complex, was also attended by the member of the Permanent Committee of WHO-Euro, the Canarian Amós García Rojas.

During the meeting, the good pace of vaccination was highlighted by referring to current figures with almost 90% of the target population vaccinated, “a figure well above the average“, Kluge said. In this sense, the WHO regional director congratulated Minister Darias and the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez,” for their leadership in the response to the Covid-19 pandemic. “

“In Spain people trust the vaccine, in the Primary Care system and in its strength, which is very important“, he pointed out. In addition, kluge has remarked that Spain,” despite having a very high level of vaccination, continues to pressure the virus and does not give up despite the figures. “