Someone in Europe is dying every 17 seconds from COVID-19, WHO says

Europe’s painful second coronavirus wave may be starting to ease, a top World Health Organization official said Thursday, as cases drop slightly even though over the past week someone on the continent has died of the virus every 17 seconds. The cautious prognosis came after new diagnoses of the novel coronavirus slowed last week across Europe to 1.8 million cases, compared with 2 million the week before last. Hospitals across the continent remain packed, a situation that increases the chance that patients will die of the disease, since it restricts access to intensive care beds.