Covid-19 has killed more than 1.5 million people since the start of the pandemic in Europe, where many countries are re-imposing restrictions to stop record-breaking cases, according to the French Agency for International Development. based on official reports until today at 12.00 Greek time.
Officially, 1,500,105 deaths have been recorded in Europe (52 countries and regions from the Atlantic coast to Azerbaijan and Russia) from the first death on the continent in February 2020. The number of new deaths has been increasing since mid-July ( 4,210 per day on average over the last seven days (+ 1% in a week) in the area, which is again the epicenter of the pandemic.
This report, which takes into account the number of deaths recorded by the national health authorities, is only a part of the deaths actually associated with the coronavirus.
The World Health Organization estimates that, given the high mortality rate directly and indirectly linked to Covid-19, the pandemic rate could be two to three times higher than officially recorded.
The number of new deaths has been rising since mid-July (4,210 per day on average over the last seven days, + 1% compared to the previous week, + 5% compared to a week earlier).
This number reaches a similar level to that of autumn 2020 as Europe entered its second wave, during which the continent experienced the most deaths per week from 14 to 20 January 2021 and when vaccination campaigns against Covid-19 had not yet begun. However, if there is a comparison, the evolution rate of these two waves is significantly different.
With about 29,500 dead between November 18 and 24, new deaths on the continent have quadrupled since mid-July, in 20 weeks. Last year, just five weeks were enough to get from 7,000 to 30,000 dead a week.
Currently, the worst affected country is Russia, which accounts for more than 30% of new daily deaths reported on the continent, with an average of 1,246 deaths each day.
According to official figures that the authorities themselves consider largely underestimated, the country counts 269,057 dead. According to the national statistics agency Rosstat, which has a broader definition of deaths from Covid, the total number of pandemics in Russia was close to 450,000 at the end of September.
The United Kingdom (144,286 dead) and Italy (133,415 dead) follow Russia with the highest total death toll.
The number of new infections has also been rising in Europe since early October. These new officially recorded infections have never been so numerous (369,915 cases a day on average from November 18 to 24, + 14% over the previous week) – but diagnostic methods have evolved a lot since the spring 2020.
To tackle the pandemic, the World Health Organization called in early November for vaccination to continue, for masks to be used en masse, and for social isolation measures to be implemented. The agency fears an additional 700,000 deaths in the region by the spring.
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