AKIPRESS.COM - About 22 months since the first cases of COVID-19 were reported, and almost a year since the first vaccines were approved, reported cases and deaths from the virus are increasing again.

The warning came from WHO Director-General, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, speaking to journalists in Geneva on Thursday.

According to WHO, every single country in Europe and Central Asia is facing a real threat of COVID-19 resurgence, or already fighting it.

In a statement released this Thursday, WHO Regional Director for Europe said that the current pace of transmission across the 53 countries of the WHO European Region is “of grave concern.”

According to Dr. Hans Kluge, cases are once again approaching record levels, with the more transmissible Delta variant continuing to dominate transmission.

Over the past 4 weeks, the continent has seen increase in new cases greater than 55 per cent. Last week, Europe and central Asia accounted for 59 per cent of all cases globally and 48 per cent of reported deaths.

“We are, once again, at the epicentre,” Dr. Kluge said, adding that hospitalization admission rates due to COVID-19 more than doubled in one week.

There are increasing trends across all age groups, but 75 per cent of fatal cases are in people aged 65 years and above.

One estimate predicts that, if the countries stay on this trajectory, there could be another half million deaths in Europe and Central Asia, by 1 February next year.