Europe is once again at the epicentre of the Covid-19 pandemic after 1.8 million new cases and 24,000 new deaths have been registered in the region last week, the WHO has warned. The transmission rate across the 53 countries of the WHO European Region is of “grave concern” and Europe is now “at another critical point of the resurgence of the pandemic,” Hans Kluge, WHO’s Regional Director for Europe, said.

During the past four weeks, the WHO’s European region has experienced a startling 55-plus per cent increase in new Covid-19 cases, and it now accounts for 59 per cent of all cases globally and 48 per cent of all reported deaths. Several countries have seen daily infections reach record highs over the past few days. Germany on Friday recorded an all-time high of 37,120 new infections within one day. The country’s seven-day Covid-19 incidence rate rose to 169.9 cases per 1,00,000 inhabitants from 154.5 cases on Thursday and 139.2 cases one week ago.