WHO warns of Delta variant surge in Europe
COPENHAGEN: A 10-week decline in new coronavirus infections across Europe has come to an end and a new wave of infections is inevitable if citizens and lawmakers do not remain disciplined, the head of WHO in Europe, Hans Kluge, told a news briefing on Thursday.
Last week, the number of new cases rose by 10%, driven by increased mixing, travel, gatherings, and easing of social restrictions, Kluge said.
“This is taking place in the context of a rapidly evolving situation. A new variant of concern - the Delta variant - and in a region where despite tremendous efforts by member states, millions remain unvaccinated,” he said.
“There will be a new wave in the WHO European region unless we remain disciplined,” he added.
Kluge cautioned this reversal came in the context of rising cases of the Delta variant, first spoted in India, which the regional director said “overtakes Alpha very quickly,” referring to the variant that first emerged in Britain.
A report by the EU’S disease control agency ECDC estimated the more contagious Delta variant could account for 90 per cent of new cases in the EU by the end of August.
Kluge also said that the Delta variant could become the dominant strain in WHO’S European region, which is made up by 53 countries and territories — including several in Central Asia — by August. The regional director said that the vaccine rollout was nowhere near where it needed to be to offer the necessary protection.
Vaccines have been shown to also protect against the Delta variant, but a high level of protection requires two doses.
Kluge said that the average vaccine coverage in the WHO’S European region was 24 per cent, and half of elderly people and 40 per cent of healthcare workers were still unprotected.
“That is unacceptable, and that is far from the recommended 80 per cent coverage of the adult population,” Kluge said.
Crowds at Euro 2020 football stadiums and in pubs and bars in host cities are driving the current rise in coronavirus infections in Europe, the WHO said on Thursday.
“We need to look much beyond just the stadiums themselves,” WHO’S senior emergency officer, Catherine Smallwood, told reporters.
An Eu-wide Covid certificate for easier travel came into force on Thursday, just in time for Europe’s busy summer vacation period - but the highly infectious Delta variant is already threatening to curtail its use.