WHO Europe warns of Covid-29 rise in eastern part of continent

The 53-country region has more than 165 million cases and 1.8 million deaths linked to the pandemic

The head of the World Health Organization’s Europe office said Tuesday that health officials are turning their attention to growing rates of Covid-19 infection in Eastern Europe, where six countries — including Russia and Ukraine — have seen a doubling in case counts over the past two weeks.

Dr. Hans Kluge said the 53-country region, which stretches to former Soviet republics into central Asia, has now tallied more than 165 million confirmed coronavirus cases and 1.8 million deaths linked to the pandemic — including 25,000 in the last week alone.

“Today, our focus is towards the east of the WHO European region,” Kluge said in Russian at a media briefing, pointing to a surge in the highly transmissible omicron variant. “Over the past two weeks, cases of Covid-19 have more than doubled in six countries in this part of the region (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, the Russian Federation, and Ukraine).”

“As anticipated, the omicron wave is moving east: 10 eastern member states have now detected this variant,” he said. Omicron, however, is milder than previous variants and health care systems in most countries around the world aren’t under strain.

Kluge sought to put an emphasis on improving vaccination rates, which have lagged in Eastern Europe compared to the rest of the region. He said less than 40% of people over age 60 in Bosnia, Bulgaria, Kyrgyzstan, Ukraine and Uzbekistan have completed a full Covid-19 vaccine series.

He called on governments and health officials “to closely examine the local reasons influencing lower vaccine demand and acceptance, and devise tailored interventions to increase vaccination rates urgently, based on the context-specific evidence.” He also said it was “not the moment to lift measures that we know work in reducing the spread of Covid-19.”

Trudeau invokes emergency powers to quell protests

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau invoked emergency powers Monday to quell the paralyzing protests by truckers and others angry over Canada’s Covid-19 restrictions, outlining plans not only to tow away their rigs but to strike at their bank accounts and their livelihoods. “These blockades are illegal, and if you are still participating, the time to go home is now,” he declared.

In invoking Canada’s Emergencies Act, which gives the federal government broad powers to restore order, Trudeau ruled out using the military. His government instead threatened to tow away vehicles to keep essential services running; freeze truckers’ personal and corporate bank accounts; and suspend the insurance on their rigs.

Trudeau did not indicate when the new crackdowns would begin. But he gave assurances the emergency measures “will be time-limited, geographically targeted, as well as reasonable and proportionate to the threats they are meant to address.”    

Virus surge begins to overwhelm Hong Kong

People lie in hospital beds outside Caritas Medical Centre in Hong Kong on Tuesday. Pic/AFP

Hong Kong’s leader on Tuesday said a surge of coronavirus cases is overwhelming the city’s emergency resources, but defended strict measures that have been imposed Chief Executive Carrie Lam said the Chinese central government was extending help to the city, which remains a nominally autonomous enclave. “So far, our measures to contain the spread of the disease remain legitimate and valid,' Lam told reporters. “The problem we are facing is given the magnitude, the pace of and the severity of this fifth wave,” Lam said. “It has outgrown our capacity.”

16,55,116
No. of new cases reported globally in the past 24 hours

41,05,65,868
Total no. of cases worldwide

58,10,880
Total no of deaths worldwide

Source: WHO/Johns Hopkins

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