Covid-19 wave re-emerging in Europe? Here’s what ECDC and WHO said

This comes as China’s finance capital Shanghai reported 38 positive cases from the same quarantine, thereby imposing another lockdown ahead of the CCP Congress , the most important political event of the country held once every five years. 

Covid-19 cases have started ticking up across Europe. “Although we are not where we were one year ago, it is clear that the Covid-19 pandemic is still not over,” WHO’s Europe director, Hans Kluge, and ECDC’s director, Andrea Ammon, said in a joint statement.

“We are unfortunately seeing indicators rising again in Europe, suggesting that another wave of infections has begun.”

According to reports from WHO’s region-wise data, Europe recorded a rise in Covid-19 cases in the week ended 2 October, clocking an increase of 8% from the prior week.

Public health experts have warned that vaccine fatigue and confusion over available vaccines will likely limit booster uptake in the region.

Millions of people across Europe remain unvaccinated against Covid-19, the WHO and ECDC noted.

They urged European countries to administer both flu and Covid-19 vaccines ahead of an expected surge in cases of seasonal influenza.

“There was no time to lose,” the WHO and ECDC said, adding that vulnerable groups, including people over 60 years old, pregnant women and those with co-morbidities, should get vaccinated against both influenza and Covid-19.

The European Medicines Agency (EMA) earlier had warned that new coronavirus variants are most likely to emerge this winter but existing vaccines should protect people from serious illness and death. “There might be a completely new variant emerging that we are not able to predict today,” Marco Cavaleri said.

The 27-nation European Union has rolled out a booster campaign ahead of a feared wave of new coronavirus cases later this year.