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European countries battle more COVID-19 flare-ups
Lisa Schnirring | News Editor | CIDRAP News
| Feb 25, 2021
A handful of European countries are grappling with new spikes in COVID-19 activity, such as the Czech Republic, where intensive care units are nearly overrun.
Meanwhile, as groups look ahead to the future, the World Health Organization (WHO) yesterday published its strategic operations plan to target the pandemic in 2021 and European officials eyed a vaccine passport system, with hopes that it could preserve this year's tourist season.
Variant activity a factor in Europe hot spots
Another surge in COVID-19 activity, some of it fueled by new variants, has put the Czech Republic's health system near collapse, according to the Washington Post. The country's Prime Minister Andrej Babis warned that hospitals could face a catastrophic situation without strong efforts to reduce the spread. Also, the country's health minister warned that ICU bed capacity could be exhausted in 2 weeks.
News sources said the government will ask other countries for help and will introduce stricter COVID-19 measures.
In Finland, government officials announced a new 3-week lockdown to begin on Mar 8 to curb another rise in infections, according to Reuters. Over the past 2 weeks, cases have risen in many cities, with the area around Helsinki the hardest hit. Prime Minister Sanna Marin said she is considering a state of emergency declaration to curb the spread of new variant viruses.
Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban said today that the country's cases are rising sharply and will continue to rise due to new SARS-CoV-2 variants, according to Reuters. He warned of a difficult 2 weeks ahead, with unprecedented strain on hospitals. Secondary schools have been closed since Nov 11, restaurants have been closed to in-person dining, and a curfew and gathering ban have been in effect.
Elsewhere, France ordered a weekend lockdown for the Dunkirk area due to a sharp rise in cases, with officials warning that tougher measure may be needed for other areas, as new infections rose to their highest levels since November. A government spokesman said the situation is deteriorating in about 10 of the country's 101 departments.
At a media briefing today, Hans Henri Kluge, MD, MPH, director of the WHO European regional office, said though transmission has slowed across the region overall due to strong measures in countries, virus levels are still at a high rate, with two variants continuing to displace others.
With the number of new cases, illness levels in the region are 10 times higher than they were in May. "And it is still the case that across the Region, most countries have very high or high levels of community transmission," he said.
WHO unveils pandemic game plan
The WHO yesterday posted its Strategic Preparedness Response Plan documents, which detail its plan for battling COVID-19 this year. Last week, the group's director-general said $1.96 billion is needed to meet the plan's six goals, which range from driving down virus transmission to countering misinformation to ensuring equitable access to vaccine.
In other global headlines:
European countries battle more COVID-19 flare-ups
Lisa Schnirring | News Editor | CIDRAP News
| Feb 25, 2021
A handful of European countries are grappling with new spikes in COVID-19 activity, such as the Czech Republic, where intensive care units are nearly overrun.
Meanwhile, as groups look ahead to the future, the World Health Organization (WHO) yesterday published its strategic operations plan to target the pandemic in 2021 and European officials eyed a vaccine passport system, with hopes that it could preserve this year's tourist season.
Variant activity a factor in Europe hot spots
Another surge in COVID-19 activity, some of it fueled by new variants, has put the Czech Republic's health system near collapse, according to the Washington Post. The country's Prime Minister Andrej Babis warned that hospitals could face a catastrophic situation without strong efforts to reduce the spread. Also, the country's health minister warned that ICU bed capacity could be exhausted in 2 weeks.
News sources said the government will ask other countries for help and will introduce stricter COVID-19 measures.
In Finland, government officials announced a new 3-week lockdown to begin on Mar 8 to curb another rise in infections, according to Reuters. Over the past 2 weeks, cases have risen in many cities, with the area around Helsinki the hardest hit. Prime Minister Sanna Marin said she is considering a state of emergency declaration to curb the spread of new variant viruses.
Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban said today that the country's cases are rising sharply and will continue to rise due to new SARS-CoV-2 variants, according to Reuters. He warned of a difficult 2 weeks ahead, with unprecedented strain on hospitals. Secondary schools have been closed since Nov 11, restaurants have been closed to in-person dining, and a curfew and gathering ban have been in effect.
Elsewhere, France ordered a weekend lockdown for the Dunkirk area due to a sharp rise in cases, with officials warning that tougher measure may be needed for other areas, as new infections rose to their highest levels since November. A government spokesman said the situation is deteriorating in about 10 of the country's 101 departments.
At a media briefing today, Hans Henri Kluge, MD, MPH, director of the WHO European regional office, said though transmission has slowed across the region overall due to strong measures in countries, virus levels are still at a high rate, with two variants continuing to displace others.
With the number of new cases, illness levels in the region are 10 times higher than they were in May. "And it is still the case that across the Region, most countries have very high or high levels of community transmission," he said.
WHO unveils pandemic game plan
The WHO yesterday posted its Strategic Preparedness Response Plan documents, which detail its plan for battling COVID-19 this year. Last week, the group's director-general said $1.96 billion is needed to meet the plan's six goals, which range from driving down virus transmission to countering misinformation to ensuring equitable access to vaccine.
In other global headlines:
- European Union leaders are discussing a "vaccine passport" system to ease border reopening and tourist travel, the New York Times Support is growing for the idea, but a stumbling block is slower than anticipated vaccine rollout and worries that those who haven't been immunized yet may be shut out of travel.
- About 1 in 10 people with COVID-19 experience "long COVID", according to a policy brief today from the WHO's European regional office. They called on policy makers to implement measures to support the patients with lingering symptoms with better access to assessment, care, and support services.
- Chinese regulators today approved two more COVID-19 vaccines, bringing the country's number to four, according to Reuters. The two newly approved vaccines are produced by CanSino Biologics and the Wuhan Institute of Biological Products, part of Sinopharm.
- Vaccine rollout in some South American countries has come with charges of scandal, cronyism, and corruption, including politicians and their family and friends jumping the line for vaccine, according to the New York Times, which said the actions have led to government official resignations in Peru, Argentina, and Ecuador.
- The global COVID-19 total today climbed to 112,849,164 cases, along with 2,503,390 deaths, according to the Johns Hopkins online dashboard.
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