Young people affected: EU authority expects the corona to rise sharply

The EU Disease Control Authority expects another sharp increase in corona infection cases in Europe in the next few weeks.

The number of new infections could almost quintuple by early August, according to forecasts published on Friday by the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC).

The cause is the highly contagious Delta variant and the relaxation of corona restrictions in many countries.

The forecasts of the EU authority relate to the territory of the EU, Norway and Iceland.

The ECDC expects the number of new cases to rise to 420 per 100,000 inhabitants in the week ending August 1.

In the following week, the value could be more than 620.

Last week, however, 90 new cases per 100,000 inhabitants were reported in the area.

The number of hospital treatments and corona deaths will increase more slowly due to ongoing vaccination campaigns, according to ECDC.

Currently, two thirds of the 30 countries observed by the EU authority are showing a rising trend in new infections.

In the week from July 5th to 11th, the number of new infections in the EU jumped by 60 percent.

"In the hardest hit countries, the largest increases and highest reporting rates were reported among 15-24 year olds," said the ECDC.

Spain and Portugal are currently classified as "very worrying" according to the ECDC.

For four other EU countries - the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Malta and Cyprus - the authority classifies the situation as "moderately worrying".

According to the ECDC, 63.4 percent of the population over the age of 18 have received at least one vaccine dose so far, 47.8 percent are fully vaccinated (as of July 11).