A nurse adjusts her PPE in the ICU (Intensive Care Unit) at St George’s Hospital in Tooting, southwest London, where the number of intensive care beds for critically ill patients had to be increased from 60 to 120, the vast majority of which are for patients with coronavirus.
Victoria Jones – PA Images | PA images | Getty Images
LONDON – The World Health Organization warned on Thursday of a critical point in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic, amid growing fears about more infectious variants of the virus that have resulted in a rapid outbreak of infections.
Countries are struggling to contain two variants found in the UK and South Africa that are significantly more communicable, with public health experts concerned about the potential impact on inoculation efforts.
It is true that, although variants spread more easily, there is no clear evidence that mutant viruses are associated with more serious disease outcomes. However, being more transmissible means that more people can be infected, which can mean more serious infections and more deaths.
In recent weeks, optimism about the mass launch of Covid-19 vaccines appears to have been tempered by the increased rate of spread of the virus.
“We were prepared for a challenging start in 2021 and that was exactly it,” said Dr. Hans Kluge, WHO regional director for Europe, at an online press conference.
“This moment represents a turning point in the course of the pandemic, where science, politics, technology and values must form a united front in order to repel this persistent and evasive virus.”
‘We are very involved in this’
A year after the health agency’s first report on Covid-19, Kluge reflected on the fact that the WHO European region recorded more than 26 million cases of Covid and more than 580,000 deaths in 2020.
Several countries in Europe have imposed national blockade measures in recent days, with more expectations of following suit next week, in an attempt to mitigate pressure on already strained health facilities.
View of the center of an almost deserted city on December 15, 2020 in Amsterdam, Holland.
Niels Wenstedt | BSR Agency | Getty Images News | Getty Images
On Wednesday, almost half of all European countries and territories recorded a seven-day incidence of more than 150 new cases per 100,000 inhabitants. WHO estimated that more than 25% of these people reported “very high” incidence rates and strained health systems.
“I have to say that, right now, we are right in the middle of it. Not only are we in the middle of it, we are probably in the Europe region in the most acute phase of transmission and we continue to see (a) really big impact on the hospital wards, “said Dr. Catherine Smallwood, WHO senior emergency officer in Europe , during the online briefing.
“To start changing all of that, we really need to reduce transmission and control the spread, despite the launch of vaccines,” said Smallwood.
The European Commission gave final approval on Wednesday for the use of the Covid vaccine developed by the American company Moderna.
It was the second vaccine to be approved by the EU executive arm, with the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine having received the green light previously.
The EU, which started its vaccination program on December 27, has been criticized for the slow deployment of jabs across the block.
He is trying to reach Israel and the United States, where large numbers of people have already received a vaccine against the virus.
To date, Europe has recorded 27.5 million confirmed cases of Covid and 603,563 related deaths, according to data compiled by the WHO.