Alarming rise in cases suggests Europe is on cusp of a second wave
COVID-19 case numbers are tracking up in Europe, raising the possibility of an impending second wave, a report from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control shows.
Infection rates rose continuously for the 31 days to Aug 19 and reached 37 per 100,000 people in the EU/EAA and the UK. The trend has continued, if not worsened, over the past week.
The figures add to growing concern over a resurgence of coronavirus. Reporting on week 33 of the pandemic, the ECDC found 18 countries reported significant increases in positive cases.
This included the UK as well as Austria, Croatia, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Malta, the Netherlands, Norway, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain and Sweden.
Although part of that was linked to increased testing, the proportion of positive tests have been increasing in France, the Netherlands, Slovenia and Greece. Data for hospital admissions and deaths are more encouraging but not stable. “Hospital and/or ICU occupancies and/or new admissions due to Covid have recently increased in Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Greece, Poland, Romania and Slovakia. No other increases have been observed, although data availability varies”, the report said.
“Increases in the 14-day Covid-19 death notification rates compared with those reported seven days ago have been observed in two countries (Belgium and Romania).” While the increasing number of cases is not yet reflected by an increase in deaths across Europe, experts warn this could change as transmission among the young works its way through the population. Spain could offer confirmation, reporting an uptick in deaths in recent days.
Authorities in Madrid on Friday advised residents in areas with a high level of virus cases to stay at home as it logged 1,199 infections in 24 hours.
The new outbreak is beginning to threaten the health system, with three
Madrid hospitals starting to cancel operations. Unlike Spain, France and Croatia, Greece so far has avoided being added to the UK’s quarantine red list.
Despite this, Greece recorded its highest number of cases in one day on Aug 14, with local lockdowns reintroduced in several areas.
Greek tourism chiefs have pleaded with the UK Government not to add the country to the red list, as it seeks to boost its economy with bookings.
Britons returning from Croatia have this weekend vented their anger at the sudden change in quarantine rules. Passengers arriving at Heathrow after yesterday’s early-morning deadline spoke of having “no time” to travel back ahead of the deadline.
The number of new infections in Germany topped 2,000 in the past 24 hours, a high not seen since April.
Italy reported 1,071 new infections in the past 24 hours, the health ministry said yesterday, exceeding 1,000 cases in a day for the first time since May. In Ukraine yesterday, official data showed 2,328 new cases in 24 hours.