Europe seeing increase in COVID-19 omicron reports

With winter weather just around the corner, the first hints of another wave of COVID-19 have emerged in Europe, according to data released by the World Health Organization this week.

Infections across Europe — the majority of them caused by omicron subvariants that dominated the summer months — have been steadily climbing in several nations, including in the United Kingdom, France and Italy.

According to WHO data released Wednesday, cases across the European Union spiked to 1.5 million last week, up 8 percent from the week prior. Hospitalizations are also up across the 27-nation bloc, with Italy reporting a 32 percent jump in admissions and a 21 percent increase in intensive care admissions for the week ending Oct. 4.

Britain, meanwhile, reported a 45 percent increase in hospitalizations when compared with the week prior.