Hans Kluge, the head of the World Health Organization’s Europe region, strongly warned in a press conference on Nov. 4 that Europe is now the epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the region is on course to experience up to 500,000 deaths during the coming winter. According to Politico, he stated that Europe and Central Asia accounted for 59% of all new COVID-19 cases globally, with nearly 1.8 million new cases having been reported. “Cumulatively, there are now more reported cases — 78 million — in the European region than in Southeast Asia, the Eastern Mediterranean, the Western Pacific and Africa combined.”
Kluge laid the blame for the surge in new cases on the low vaccination rates, and the relaxation of social and public health measures in many parts of the region. He emphasized, “‘Preventive measures do not deprive people of the freedom; they ensure it,’” he said, and insisting they were the best way to avoid lockdowns, “‘which is an absolute last resort.’” (https://www.politico.eu/article/europe-coronavirus-covid-19-booster-shots-who/)
Russia, which is both a European and an Asian nation, has posted an all-time weekly high for new coronavirus cases, based on the anti-coronavirus crisis center’s data, TASS reported. Active COVID-19 cases grew by 53,530 over last week.
