This Is Where The WHO Is Warning The COVID Epicenter Is Again

The World Health Organization had a dire warning for one region of the world on Thursday, saying that Europe is once again “at the epicenter of the pandemic.”

The ominous comments came from WHO Regional Director for Europe Dr. Hans Kluge during a media briefing. He said the new daily cases in Europe, which comprise 53 countries, were nearing record levels.

“Today, every single country in Europe and Central Asia is facing a real threat of COVID-19 resurgence, or already fighting it. The current pace across the 53 countries is of grave concern," Kluge said.

Kluge attributed the rise in COVID cases in Europe to a lack of vaccination coverage and an easement of public and social safety measures, especially as the highly infectious Delta variant spreads amid the looming winter season.

The region was also at “varying stages of vaccination rollout,” with regionwide inoculations at an average of 47% of the population fully vaccinated, Kluge said. Only eight countries in the region have 70% of their residents fully vaccinated against the virus.

According to Kluge, last week alone nearly 1.8 million new coronavirus cases and 24,000 new COVID-19 deaths were reported in the WHO’s European and Central Asia region. This was a 6% increase in infections and a 12% jump in fatalities, compared to only a week earlier, he said.

Globally the numbers fare even worse, according to Kluge, as the region accounts for 59% of all COVID cases and 48% of all deaths last week.

Kluge added that if the region continues to move forward in the same trajectory, it is predicted that there could be another 500,000 COVID-related deaths by February 2022, with 43 countries experiencing high to extreme stress on hospital beds at some point during that time.

“We must change our tactics, from reacting to surges of COVID-19, to preventing them from happening in the first place," he said.

Globally, over 5 million people have died from COVID-19, according to Johns Hopkins University. There have been over 248.3 million cases of the virus since the pandemic started in 2020.