The WHO warns of 700,000 more deaths than COVID-19 in Europe by March

November 24, 2021 – European countries face a new jump in coronavirus cases, which could lead to another 700,000 deaths by March 1 if current trends continue, the WHO said on Tuesday.

More than 1.5 million people have already died from COVID-19 in the 53 countries that make up the World Health Organization’s European region. This means that the number of deaths could exceed 2.2 million by the beginning of 2022.

Europe “remains firmly in the grip of the COVID-19 pandemic,” the WHO said, noting that the coronavirus was the leading cause of death in Europe and Central Asia. From now until March, intensive care units in 49 of the 53 countries will face “high or extreme stress”.

The WHO reported more than 2.4 million new cases in the region last week, accounting for 67% of all COVID-19 cases worldwide during that time. The death toll rose to nearly 4,200 a day, doubling the 2,100 deaths a day reported in late September.

France reported more than 30,000 new COVID-19 infections on Tuesday, the first time since August the country had so many cases in 24 hours, according to Reuters. Daily cases increased by 54% compared to last week, and the increase from week to week was about 50% for 11 consecutive days.

“This is a very large increase in the rate of infection, which shows that we are, unfortunately, in the fifth wave of the epidemic,” Olivier Veran, the country’s health minister, told lawmakers on Tuesday.

Germany also set a record for a pandemic on Monday with an average of more than 51,000 new cases a day in seven days, according to CNBC. Russia reported a record level of more than 1,200 deaths a day for the week ending Monday.

The WHO said the latest wave was fueled by several things: the more contagious version of Delta, people moving indoors due to colder weather, easing restrictions and slower absorption of vaccines in some countries.

About 53% of the population is fully vaccinated in the WHO European Region, but the rates vary from 10% to more than 80% in different countries. Many eastern countries have lower levels, with 24% of the population fully vaccinated in Bulgaria, compared to about 87% in Portugal, 78% in Denmark, 71% in Germany and 65% in Austria.