Europe could see another half a million Covid deaths-WHO

The World Health Organization warned that a surge of coronavirus cases in Europe and Central Asia has pushed the region back as the epicenter of the pandemic. "The current pace of transmission across the 53 countries of the European Region is of grave concern," WHO Europe director Hans Kluge told a press conference on Thursday, adding that one reliable projection would mean "another half a million COVID-19 deaths," by February if the current trajectory continued. He also said many countries will face stress on hospital beds at some point during that period. 

There are now 78 million cases in the European region, which is more than infections reported in Southeast Asia, the Eastern Mediterranean, the Western Pacific and Africa combined, according to the WHO. Last week, Europe and Central Asia accounted for almost half of the world’s reported deaths from Covid-19.  The WHO has repeatedly said that the pandemic is not yet over, and that governments should keep public-health measures such as mask-wearing along with vaccinations.