Covid-19: WHO warns of an explosion of the pandemic in Europe
Passengers wearing masks on the metro in Rome, Italy, October 28, 2020. Guglielmo Mangiapane / Reuters
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4 min
While the world continues to keep its eyes on the United States, the pandemic is more centered in Europe than ever.
The region now has more than 12 million cases for nearly 300,000 deaths, if we add Russia.
WHO warns: the next few weeks will be difficult.
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With our correspondent in Geneva,
Jérémie Lanche
459% increase in positive cases in Serbia within 15 days, + 200% in Italy and Greece, + 150% in Germany and Sweden ... The figures cannot lie: yes, Europe is today. hui the region with the most
new infections with the new coronavirus
, ahead of Latin America.
The reasons are not all known.
But for the director of the Europe office of the World Health Organization (WHO), Hans Kluge, there was clearly a certain laxity in the European response: “
Several countries relaxed their public health measures during the summer.
The wearing of the mask was not generalized.
The gatherings were not always controlled.
And so we saw the aggressive effects of the virus multiply.
"
In some public debate, how we respond to # COVID19 has been framed as a choice between health & the economy.
That's a false choice.
They are integrated & inter-dependent:
-When people are healthy, they can learn, earn & innovate
-When people are sick, the whole of society suffers https://t.co/3xVqWvKYxx
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (@DrTedros) November 5, 2020
► Also to listen: Covid-19: when the management of the crisis is controversial
WHO strongly recommends compulsory mask wear and calls for schools to be kept open as long as possible
Switzerland, where the WHO headquarters are located, is a revealing example.
The country has gone, in a few weeks, from the status of a relatively good student to that of an active circulation zone of the virus, the fault of an overly decentralized approach to the fight against the pandemic, with cantons which have only just made wearing compulsory. of the mask.
If it were generalized throughout Europe,
wearing a mask
could save more than 260,000 lives, estimates the WHO, which nevertheless calls on states to leave schools open as long as possible so as not to sacrifice an entire generation.
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