The COVID-19 epidemic in Europe has recently rebounded significantly due to colder weather, relaxed vaccination measures and slow progress in vaccination in some countries. Governments are calling on people to be vaccinated as soon as possible and to implement or consider stricter measures.
According to the world health organization's newly released global covid-19 weekly report, in the week ending on the 24th, the number of new confirmed covid-19 cases in the world increased slightly compared with the previous week, of which the number of new cases in Europe accounted for more than half of the new cases in the world. The number of new confirmed COVID-19 cases in Europe exceeded 1.67 million, and the number of new deaths exceeded 21,000, an increase of 18% and 14% respectively from the previous week, the highest increase in the world.
The outbreak rebounded
Cause of the rebound
Peter Drobak, a global health expert at Oxford Business School in the United Kingdom, pointed out that the reasons for the rebound of the epidemic in European countries include the lifting or relaxation of epidemic prevention restrictions, cold weather forcing people to choose to move indoors, and the spread of the highly contagious Delta strain. The recent outbreak in the UK has shown that it is difficult to prevent the epidemic by vaccinating the new crown vaccine alone, and prevention and control measures need to be tightened.
The Netherlands National Institute of Public Health and Environment believes that the sharp increase in confirmed cases in the country may be related to the relaxation of prevention and control measures and seasonal factors. Dutch Health Minister Hugo De Jonghe said on the 25th that the epidemic situation in the Netherlands is very complicated, and four-fifths of severely ill patients have not been vaccinated.
Bulgaria has the lowest COVID-19 vaccination rate among EU countries. Statistics from the European Centre for Disease Control and Prevention show that as of 25 October, only about 24.4% of adults in Bulgaria had completed vaccination.
Epidemic prevention is tightened
In the face of the rebound, the Dutch health minister said that the rebound was earlier and faster than previously expected, and the government was considering restarting the lockdown measures.
The Belgian Prime Minister announced that starting next week, people entering bars, restaurants and health clubs must show their COVID-19 passes. The so-called COVID-19 pass refers to three kinds of certificates, namely the vaccination certificate of the EU-recognized COVID-19 vaccine, the certificate of negative nucleic acid test, and the certificate of rehabilitation after infection with the new crown virus.
The Bulgarian government has previously announced that from October 21, people over the age of 18 must present a COVID-19 pass when entering indoor places other than banks, pharmacies, etc.
Germany's health minister said germany should be able to lift the emergency on November 25 as scheduled, but will continue to require people to wear masks, issue vaccination certificates or negative nucleic acid test certificates and take other measures to prevent the epidemic when entering indoor public areas.
(Original title: Eventful "Winter" Europe's COVID-19 Rebound)
Source: Beijing Evening News
Process Edit: u025