The number of new cases in France or in Germany has rebounded since the beginning of March, but Hans Kluge, the director of WHO in Europe, remains “optimistic”.
Le Monde with AFP
Several European countries, including Germany, France, Italy and the United Kingdom, have lifted too much “brutally” their anti-Covid-19 measures and find themselves faced with a sharp rise in cases under the Effect of sub-variant BA2, lamented, Tuesday, March 22, the World Health Organization (WHO). At a press conference in Moldova, the Director of WHO in Europe, Hans Kluge, said “vigilant” on the current epidemic situation on the continent, while asserting to remain “optimistic”.
For the time being, the number of COVID-19 cases is on the rise in 18 of the 53 countries in the WHO Europe area, according to the health organization. “The countries, where we observe a particular increase, are the United Kingdom, Ireland, Greece, Cyprus, France, Italy and Germany,” said Kluge. “These countries have lifted the restrictions brutally too much stepped,” said the UN manageor.
“The number of hospitalizations does not lower”
According to WHO data, the number of new cases in Europe had fallen sharply after a peak at the end of January, but it has risen since the beginning of March. In the last seven days, more than 5.1 million cases and 12,496 deaths were recorded in the WHO Europe zone, bringing the total of cases detected since the beginning of the pandemic to nearly 194.4 million and the Number of deaths at more than 1.92 million.
In France, the average number of people affected by COVID-19, calculated over a week, continues to progress: the daily average settled on Sunday at around 89,000 cases against just over 65,200 a week earlier . A lift that is also illustrated in schools: 3,184 classes were closed Friday, compared to 2,693 classes, a week before.
More disturbing, the number of new admissions at the hospital has stabilized. “For two days, the number of hospitalizations does not lower,” said Monday, the Minister of Health, Olivier Véran, in The Parisian .