One in ten people in the WHO European Region will be infected with COVID-19 by the end of this week. This was stated by the regional director of the organization Hans Kluge at a briefing.

"Last month, we warned that another half a million lives could be lost by the beginning of 2022 if we do not take urgent action," he said. "A month passed and another 120,000 people died, and the region added another 10 million cases of COVID-19. By the end of this week, one in ten people in the European region will be infected with COVID-19, which will be confirmed by laboratory tests. "

With the end of the year and the holiday season approaching, COVID-19-registered deaths have reached a high level of around 4,100 deaths per day, which is twice as many as 2,100 deaths per day at the end of September 2021, he said. Just two weeks ago, the total number of COVID-19 deaths in 53 countries in the region exceeded 1.5 million.

"The percentage of registered cases has increased in all age groups, with the highest percentage in the age group of 5 to 14," Kluge said.

Improved ventilation and the use of masks should be standard in all primary schools as part of a safe learning environment, while avoiding school closures and distance learning, the regional director said.

"Vaccination of children should be discussed and considered at the national level," Kluge added.

He emphasized that mandatory measures should in no way contribute to increasing social inequalities in access to health and social services. Kluge also reminded that the introduction of restrictive measures is necessary to take care of people's mental health and to prevent domestic violence.

He added that mandatory vaccines should be "absolutely a last resort" and should only be used when all other possible options for improving vaccinations have been exhausted. Noting that in some cases compulsory vaccines have increased intake, Kluge said that the effect that compulsory vaccines can have on "public confidence" must also be taken into account: what is acceptable in a society and community may be ineffective and unacceptable in another. "

The WHO European Region includes 53 countries and territories, several of which are in Central Asia.

/Nova

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