COVID News: WHO Says More Than 60% Of Cases Came From Europe

The World Health Organization said that of the 3.3 million new COVID-19 infections reported around the world, 2.1 million came from Europe.

Coronavirus deaths in Europe rose 5% in the last week, making it the only region in the world where COVID deaths increased. In comparison, deaths in other regions either remained stable or declined, the WHO said Tuesday in its weekly pandemic report.

Europe has also seen a rise in COVID cases for the seventh consecutive week.

This report comes about two weeks after the WHO announced that Europe’s current rate of transmission is of "grave concern," and the region could be facing over half a million COVID deaths by February if “we stay on this trajectory.”

WHO Europe Director Hans Kluge said this resurgence is due to two factors: “insufficient vaccination coverage” and “the relaxation of public health and social measures.”

Though 60% of people in the region are fully inoculated, COVID vaccinations rated in Europe are extremely staggered. Only eight countries have full vaccination rates over 70%, while two countries have rates below 10%, the WHO noted.

Eastern Europe has only about half as many vaccinated as the Western part of the continent thanks to widespread vaccine hesitancy, the Associated Press reported.

WHO noted that COVID cases jumped 6% globally, which was mostly driven by the Americas, Asia and Europe.