Europe’s COVID-19 cases double in five weeks and total infections surpass 10 million, reports Reuters.
10 million total infections
According to a Reuters tally, Europe’s new COVID-19 cases have doubled in five weeks, propelling the region on Sunday across the bleak milestone of 10 million total infections.
Just last month, both Latin America and Asia reported over 10 million total cases in their regions. The United States alone has over 9 million cases with a rapidly accelerating outbreak.
Surge in cases
A Reuters analysis says Europe almost took nine months to record its first 5 million COVID-19 cases, while the next 5 million cases were reported in slightly over a month.
With 10% of the world’s population, Europe accounts for about 22% of the global caseload of 46.3 million infections.
With over 269,000 deaths, the region accounts for some 23% of the global COVID-19 death toll of nearly 1.2 million lives lost.
Nationwide lockdowns
Amid the surging cases, France, Germany and the United Kingdom have announced nationwide lockdowns for at least the next month. The restrictions are expected to be as strict as the restrictions in March and April.
Portugal has imposed a partial lockdown and Spain and Italy are tightening restrictions.
Cases in Europe
According to Reuters analysis, Europe has reported more than 1.6 million new cases in the past seven days. This is nearly half the 3.3 million reported worldwide, with over 16,100 deaths, a 44% jump over the previous week.
The analysis also says, for every 10,000 people in Europe, over 127 coronavirus cases have been reported and about four people have died.
In the United States there have been 278 cases and seven deaths per 10,000 residents.
Eastern Europe
Within the region, Eastern Europe has nearly one-third of the total reported COVID-19 cases, the highest number of cases.
Russia is the worst-affected Eastern European country with over 1.6 million COVID-19 infections. The nation’s Deputy Prime Minister Tatiana Golikova said on Wednesday that hospital beds were at 90% of capacity in 16 regions of the country.
Southern Europe
Southern Europe leads the death toll with about 32% of the total coronavirus-related deaths in Europe.
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Source: Reuters
