The World Health Organization (WHO) has recently reported that coronavirus cases have almost tripled across Europe in the last six weeks, accounting for around half of all infections worldwide. The hospitalization numbers have also doubled; however, severe care admission has remained low.

Dr. Hans Kluge, WHO’s Europe director, recently in a statement described COVID-19 as a vicious and possibly deadly illness that must never be underestimated.

He further noted that the super-infectious relatives of the Omicron Variant are responsible for driving the new waves of diseases across the continent, possibly resulting in more prolonged survival of the disease.

According to WHO, last week, 53 countries in Europe, stretching to central Asia, reported 3 million new coronavirus infections. The agency added that the virus was leading to approximately 3,000 fatalities every week.

Since the last five weeks, cases of Covid-19 have increased significantly across the globe. This comes despite many countries scaling back on testing.

Kluge said that with the rising number of cases, there has also been a spike in the number of hospitalizations, which is expected to increase further in the upcoming autumn and winter season.

This forecast brings a massive challenge to the healthcare system in the country, which is already under significant pressure dealing with crises since 2020.

Editor-in-chief of the British Medical Journal, Kamran Abbasi, and Alastair McLellan of the Health Service Journal wrote in a joint editorial that the UK government had failed to address the long-enduring problems augmented due to COVID, including the lining of ambulances outside the hospitals that were too overloaded to take new patients.

They further notified that the government needs to be truthful about the danger that the pandemic even now poses to them and the National Health Service.

Kluge said that the Southern Hemisphere countries are experiencing a diligent flu season coupled with COVID, which is already draining health systems. They might witness a similar scenario in the Northern hemisphere, cautioning that the rising pressure could bring chaos to business, school, and travel.

Source Credit – https://www.usnews.com/news/health-news/articles/2022-07-19/who-covid-triples-across-europe-hospitalizations-double