Copenhagen: The World Health Organisation’s European office said Thursday it saw “encouraging signs” as Italy reported a lower rate of infections of the new coronavirus, cautioning it was too soon to say whether the worst had passed.
“While the situation remains very serious, we are starting to see some encouraging signs,” WHO regional director for Europe, Hans Kluge, told a press conference.
“Italy, which has the highest number of cases in the region, has just seen a slightly lower rate of increase, though it is still too early to say that the pandemic is peaking in that country,” he added.
WHO Europe said that to date over 250,000 cases of COVID-19 had been reported on the continent, along with 11,987 deaths. That means that globally, roughly six out of every 10 cases and seven out of 10 deaths have been reported in Europe, with the number of confirmed infections worldwide now over 400,000.
Spain virus death toll tops 4,000
The coronavirus death toll in Spain surged to 4,089 after 655 people died within 24 hours, the health ministry said on Thursday.
It was a 19 percent increase on figures released Wednesday by the authorities in Spain, which has the world’s second highest death toll from the disease after Italy. The number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 rose to 56,188, the ministry said.
Despite a national lockdown imposed on March 14, which parliament on Thursday agreed to extend until April 11, both deaths and infections have continued to mount, with officials warning this week would be particularly bad. But the rise in the number of new deaths was smaller than that recorded on Wednesday when the figure rose by 738 or 27 per cent. Health authorities are hoping it will soon become clear whether the lockdown is having the desired effect.
More than 250,000 cases
Europe is the worst-affected region in the world with 258,068 cases, including 14,640 deaths, ahead of Asia’s 100,937 infections and 3,636 fatalities, according to a tally compiled from national health data and World Health Organization figures.
As the new coronavirus has spread across the continent, many European countries have adopted severe measures to curb the outbreak, including imposing lockdown measures and closing businesses and borders, as well as limiting public gatherings.
According to Kluge they will soon be able to determine the degree to which those measures have had an impact.
But Kluge also cautioned governments and citizens to be aware of the “new reality” created by the pandemic and prepare for the long term impact. “This is not going to be a sprint, this is going to be a marathon,” Kluge said.
The number of actual infections is believed to be higher since many countries are only testing severe cases or patients who require hospitalisation. (AFP)
