Africa Press-Nigeria:<\/p>\n
The World Health Organisation, WHO, on Thursday expressed worries over the current surge in cases of COVID-19 in Europe.<\/p>\n
WHO\u2019s Regional Director for Europe, Hans Kluge expressed concern that the weekly cases now exceeded those reported during the March peak of the pandemic that should serve as a \u201cwake-up call\u201d.<\/p>\n
Speaking during a press briefing, Kluge said: \u201cWe do have a very serious situation unfolding before us as weekly cases have now exceeded those reported when the pandemic first peaked in Europe in March,\u2019\u2019 NAN reports.<\/p>\n
Kluge expressed concern about all the 53 European member states, adding that everybody should learn the lesson from the first wave of COVID-19, which is \u201cno one is safe until everyone is safe\u2019\u2019.<\/p>\n
\u201cLast week, the region\u2019s weekly tally exceeded 300,000 patients.<\/p>\n
\u201cMore than half of European countries have reported a greater than 10 per cent increase in cases in the past two weeks.<\/p>\n
\u201cOf those, seven countries have seen newly reported case increase more than two-fold in the same period\u2019\u2019.<\/p>\n
He noted that some countries that coped well with the first wave of the pandemic were now being hit much worse.<\/p>\n
The WHO official noted that Europe\u2019s stringent public health measures paid off with June COVID-19 cases hitting all-time low.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe September case numbers, however, should serve as a wake-up call for all of us.<\/p>\n
\u201cAlthough, these numbers reflect more comprehensive testing, it also shows alarming rates of transmission across the region,\u2019\u2019 Kluge warned.<\/p>\n