“Alarming virus spread” unfolding in Europe as COVID-19 cases spike

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:

• The WHO warned of alarming rates of transmission occurring across Europe as the region reported 54,000 new coronavirus cases in one day. 
• Several European countries like the U.K. and Ireland are now reintroducing measures to limit the number of people in social gatherings.
• To stop the spread of the virus, Madrid is limiting movement and contact in high infection areas.

The World Health Organization on Thursday warned of a very serious situation as Europe recorded 54,000 cases in 24 hours surpassing those reported in March when the pandemic  initially peaked. The September surge “should serve as a wake-up call for all of us,” says Hans Kluge, WHO’s regional director for Europe.

“Although these numbers reflect more comprehensive testing, it also shows alarming rates of transmission across the region,” Kluge said in an online news conference in Copenhagen.

According to a tally by Johns Hopkins, COVID-19 cases worldwide have already reached 30 million with 942,000 people who have died from the virus.

As infections reached record high, countries across Europe are imposing new restrictions while avoiding inflicting more damage on their economies.

In Britain, which was Europe’s worst-hit country with almost 42,000 deaths, new measures will take effect on Friday. Prime Minister Boris Johnson said pubs will have to close earlier to help prevent a second wave of cases.

Amid facing backlash over its lack of testing capacity, the government reintroduced rules across England on Monday restricting social gatherings to groups of six or fewer. The same restrictions will be  imposed on northeast England where residents can no longer meet people outside their homes.

Following fresh spikes in coronavirus cases, pubs in Dublin will remain closed.  Prime Minister Micheal Martin said additional measures will be introduced to stop the transmission of the virus that had so far killed 1,800 people in Ireland.

Meanwhile, Madrid said it would renew restrictions on movement in places where the virus is spreading rapidly instead of a previous plan to target lockdowns.

And in Austria, private indoor gatherings including parties and private events will also be restricted to 10 people as the Alpine nation is said to be entering its second wave of infections.

In other nations, Israel is set to begin a second nationwide lockdown on Friday afternoon with its government urging hundreds of its citizens who are massed at the Ukraine-Belarus border to return home.

The WHO Europe further said Thursday that their guidelines for a 14-day quarantine period for people exposed to the virus will remain unchanged.

“We would only revise that on the basis of a change of our understanding of the incubation period and transmission of the disease,” said WHO Europe’s senior emergency officer Catherine Smallwood.

While France has shortened the recommended length for self-isolation to seven days and 10 days in the UK and Ireland, other European countries like Portugal and Croatia are also planning to reduce quarantines.

Source: CBS News