WHO expects ‘high levels’ of Covid-19 this summer in Europe

“As countries across Europe have lifted social measures that were in place, the virus will circulate at high levels over the summer“, said the director for Europe of the UN organization, Hans Kluge.

“The virus is not going away just because countries stop monitoring it. It keeps contaminating, it keeps changing and it still kills“, he said in a written statement to AFP.

Driven by the Omicron BA.5 sub-variant, the number of cases in the fifty or so countries of the WHO Europe zone approached 500,000 daily this week, while it was around 150,000 per day at the end of May. , according to public data from the organization.

After having around 4,000 to 5,000 deaths per day for a good part of the winter, the number of deaths currently remains at a low level of around 500, i.e. its level in the summer of 2020.

Almost all European countries are showing rising cases, with Portugal, Luxembourg, France, Greece, Cyprus, Germany and Austria currently leading the way with the highest incidence.

“We hope that the extensive vaccination programs that most Member States have in place, together with past infections, will mean that we will avoid the most serious consequences that we saw earlier in the pandemic.“, Mr. Kluge said.

“Nevertheless, our recommendations remain in place“, he pointed out.

The WHO calls on Europeans to continue to self-isolate if they have respiratory symptoms, to check that their vaccinations are up to date and to wear a mask in crowded places.

“We must continue to track the virus because not doing so makes us increasingly blind to the modes of transmission and (its) evolution“, underlined the director of WHO Europe.

Mr. Kluge also called on Member States to further increase their level of vaccination.

“High population immunity and choices made to reduce risk to older people will be key to preventing further mortality this summer“, he said.