The coronavirus pandemic continues to rage around the world. Despite the availability of a vaccine against the virus, the severity of Covid-19 has not diminished.
Now, the World Health Organization (WHO) expressed concern about rising Covid-19 transmission rates in Europe.
“Last week, there was an 11% rise in the number of deaths in the region — one reliable projection is expecting 236,000 deaths in Europe by December 1,” said Hans Kluge, the WHO’s Europe director. He attributed this to the negligence of Covid regulations in many countries and the slow pace of vaccine distribution.
Kluge said that 33 of WHO Europe’s 53 member states had an infection rate of over 10% in the past two weeks, owing largely to the highly contagious delta variant.
“In the previous six weeks, it has declined by 14%, influenced by a lack of access to vaccines in some countries and a lack of vaccine acceptance in others,” he added.
Kluge also said the increase in the virus’s rate in the region is a matter of concern. Since the start of the pandemic, Europe has recorded nearly 1.3 million Covid-19 deaths.