United Nations Office Warns of More COVID-19 Deaths Across Europe
2021-11-29
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1The World Health Organization's Europe office estimates its 53-country area could record 700,000 additional deaths
2from the new coronavirus by next spring.
3WHO Europe is based in Denmark.
4The office noted the growing evidence that people are less protected against infection and less serious disease through vaccines.
5It said an additional "booster dose" should be given as soon as possible to people with serious health problems,
6people over 60 and those who work in health care.
7The WHO's international headquarters in Switzerland, however, has advised differently.
8It has repeatedly called for a delay on the use of boosters through the end of 2021.
9It has called for the delay so that more doses can be made available to developing countries.
10Developing and poor countries have faced a severe lack of the COVID-19 vaccines compared to rich countries.
11WHO Europe called on people to get vaccinated, respect recommended washing methods
12and practice social distancing to help stop the spread of the virus.
13Dr. Hans Kluge is regional director for WHO Europe.
14He said in a statement, "Today, the COVID-19 situation across Europe and Central Asia is very serious.
15We face a challenging winter ahead, but we should not be without hope,
16because all of us...can take decisive action to stabilize the pandemic."
17The European region the office oversees stretches deep into central Asia.
18WHO Europe said deaths from COVID-19 in the region rose to nearly 4,200 per day in recent weeks.
19That is two times higher than daily deaths recorded at the end of September.
20Total deaths have now reached 1.5 million in the region.
21WHO Europe said there are three main reasons for the rise in deaths and cases in its region.
22One is the continued spread of the Delta variant, or version, of the virus.
23Another is an easing of restrictive measures like requirements for mask-wearing and physical distancing in places.
24The third reason is that a high number of Europeans remain unvaccinated.
25The WHO Europe statement said,
26"We can expect that there will be high or extreme stress on hospital beds in 25 countries,
27and high or extreme stress in intensive care units (ICUs) in 49 out of 53 countries" between now and March 1, 2022.
28It also said the area could reach a total of 2 million deaths from the pandemic by next March.
29I'm Ashley Thompson.
1The World Health Organization's Europe office estimates its 53-country area could record 700,000 additional deaths from the new coronavirus by next spring. 2WHO Europe is based in Denmark. The office noted the growing evidence that people are less protected against infection and less serious disease through vaccines. It said an additional "booster dose" should be given as soon as possible to people with serious health problems, people over 60 and those who work in health care. 3The WHO's international headquarters in Switzerland, however, has advised differently. It has repeatedly called for a delay on the use of boosters through the end of 2021. It has called for the delay so that more doses can be made available to developing countries. Developing and poor countries have faced a severe lack of the COVID-19 vaccines compared to rich countries. 4WHO Europe called on people to get vaccinated, respect recommended washing methods and practice social distancing to help stop the spread of the virus. 5Dr. Hans Kluge is regional director for WHO Europe. He said in a statement, "Today, the COVID-19 situation across Europe and Central Asia is very serious. We face a challenging winter ahead, but we should not be without hope, because all of us...can take decisive action to stabilize the pandemic." 6The European region the office oversees stretches deep into central Asia. WHO Europe said deaths from COVID-19 in the region rose to nearly 4,200 per day in recent weeks. That is two times higher than daily deaths recorded at the end of September. 7Total deaths have now reached 1.5 million in the region. 8WHO Europe said there are three main reasons for the rise in deaths and cases in its region. One is the continued spread of the Delta variant, or version, of the virus. Another is an easing of restrictive measures like requirements for mask-wearing and physical distancing in places. The third reason is that a high number of Europeans remain unvaccinated. 9The WHO Europe statement said, "We can expect that there will be high or extreme stress on hospital beds in 25 countries, and high or extreme stress in intensive care units (ICUs) in 49 out of 53 countries" between now and March 1, 2022. 10It also said the area could reach a total of 2 million deaths from the pandemic by next March. 11I'm Ashley Thompson. 12_________________________________________________ 13Words in This Story 14booster (shot) -n. an extra amount of a substance (called a vaccine) that is injected with a needle into a person or animal to help protect against a disease 15dose - n. the amount of a medicine, drug or vitamin that is taken at one time 16practice -v. to do (something) regularly or all the time as an ordinary part of your life 17challenging -adj. difficult in a way that is sometimes interesting or enjoyable 18stabilize -v. to stop quickly changing, increasing or getting worse 19stress -n. pressure caused by physical force or by facts that influence how people do things