WHO Europe has declared that “we are not” in the situation experienced in March and April (Representation)
Copenhagen, Denmark:
The surge in the number of Covid-19 cases in Europe is “of great concern” but the situation is still better than the peaks in April, the regional office of the World Health Organization said on Thursday.
“The daily number of cases is increasing, hospital admissions are on the rise,” WHO regional director for Europe, Hans Kluge, told a press conference.
“Covid is now the fifth leading cause of death and the 1,000 deaths per day mark has now been reached.”
But he said that “we are not” in the situation experienced in March and April.
“Although we have two to three times as many cases per day compared to the peak in April, we are still seeing five times fewer deaths, and the doubling of hospitalization time is still two to three times longer,” said Kluge said.
He said part of the increase could be attributed to a higher level of testing among young people, and that the lower mortality could be explained by the spread of the virus in younger and less vulnerable groups.
However, Kluge added that if measures against the virus were relaxed, projections showed that by January 2021, death levels could be four to five times those recorded in April.
Conversely, “simple measures” such as the widespread use of masks coupled with strict control of social gatherings could save more than 280,000 lives by February.
While Kluge said it was time to “step up measures”, he stressed that it should be done gradually.
He said what was called a “lockdown” six months ago – a shutdown “where every corner of our society and our economy has come to a halt” – was not the same as it should be. today.
Kluge urged governments not to “hold back with relatively smaller actions, in order to avoid the same very painful and damaging actions”.
“The collateral damage to people was too great,” Kluge said.
Decisions on measures at the national level should therefore also take into account factors such as “mental health” and “domestic violence”.
Kluge also said countries should do everything in their “power to keep schools open” and develop policies for “at-risk children with special learning needs or health conditions”.
WHO Europe includes 53 countries, including Russia and countries in Central Asia, and among member countries, more than 7.25 million cases of Covid-19 have been recorded and nearly 250,000 deaths.
(Except for the title, this story was not edited by GalacticGaming staff and is posted from a syndicated feed.)
