Europe is the only region where deaths from Covid-19 are increasing: WHO [TKB Health]

The World Health Organization (WHO) said last week that there was a five percent increase in deaths from coronavirus infections in Europe, making it the only region in the world where the rate of death from the pandemic increased. The United Nations health agency said there was a six percent increase in confirmed infections globally, driven by increases in the Americas, Europe and Asia.

In its weekly report on the pandemic on Tuesday, the WHO said the death rate from Covid-19 remained stable or declined in all regions except Europe. A total of 50,000 people died of infection worldwide last week. At the same time, out of 3.3 million new cases of infection, 2.1 million cases came from Europe. This was the seventh consecutive week that there was a steady increase in the cases of Covid-19 in 61 countries.

The WHO said nearly 60 percent of people in Western Europe have taken all doses of anti-Covid-19 vaccines, while only about half have been vaccinated in the eastern part of the continent, where officials struggle to overcome vaccination hesitation.  The WHO has said that since July, infections are decreasing in Africa, West Asia and Southeast Asia.

The WHO said that the largest number of new cases within Europe have come from Russia, Germany and Britain. Also underlined that there has been a 67 percent increase in deaths in Norway and 38 percent in Slovakia. In the past, the WHO had described Europe as the ‘epicenter’ of the pandemic and warned that the infection could lead to 500,000 more deaths by January if immediate action is not taken.