Several European countries, such as Germany, France, Italy and the United Kingdom, lifted their anti-covid restrictions very “brutally” and are now experiencing a clear increase in cases due to the BA.2 subvariant, the World Health Organization (WHO) lamented on Tuesday. (22).
At a press conference in Moldova, WHO director for Europe, Hans Kluge, said that the epidemiological situation on the continent must be monitored, but reiterated that he still maintains his “optimism”.
The number of Covid cases is increasing in 18 of the 53 countries in the WHO European area.
“The countries where we see a particular increase are the UK, Ireland, Greece, Cyprus, France, Italy and Germany,” Kluge said. “These countries have brutally lifted restrictions,” he added.
The number of new cases in Europe dropped sharply after peaking in late January, but has picked up since early March.
In the last seven days, more than 5.1 million new cases and 12,496 deaths were recorded in the WHO European region, which brings the total number of cases detected since the beginning of the pandemic to 194.4 million and the number of deaths to more than 1.92 million.
Epidemiologists explain the increase in cases by the predominance of the omicron subvariant BA.2, 30% more contagious —but not more dangerous— than its predecessor, BA.1.
The fifth wave observed in Europe is not over yet and experts criticize the “flexibilization” of (public health) policies and the lifting of the guard too quickly in previous waves.
“Right now, I’m optimistic but vigilant,” Kluge said.
As a positive point, “there is a great capital of immunity (…) thanks to both vaccination and infections”, he said.
In addition, with the end of winter, “people will gather less indoors,” he added.
But beyond that, the omicron variant “is less virulent in people fully vaccinated with a booster dose,” even though “in countries with lower vaccination rates it remains a killer disease,” Kluge said.
“We’re going to have to live with Covid for a while, but that doesn’t mean we can’t end the pandemic,” he said.
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