In the middle of a sudden rise In COVID-19 cases, due to the emergence of an Omicron variant, Head of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen said on Wednesday that the 27-nation bloc will face another Christmas in a pandemic.

“We’re living in a pandemic state again. However, we’re better prepared to fight the virus than ever before. More than 66 percent of Europeans have received two vaccines. And 62 million people already have a booster, which is the best protection available today. Omicron,” Leyen said. .

In a speech to the European Parliament, the head of the European Commission said there was a double challenge in the region.

“Firstly, we are seeing a rapid increase in COVID-19 cases in Europe. In some Member States, the number of new infections is the highest ever, and as a result, the number of diseases has naturally increased. We are increasing the burden on hospitals,”

To date, 92,278,493 cases of COVID-19 have been reported in Europe. In recent weeks, new cases have occurred due to the Omicron variant.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has revealed that an 83 percent increase in COVID-19 cases in Africa over the past week due to Delta and Omicron variants causes fewer deaths than previous spikes.

The total number of cases recorded during the pandemic was 8.9 million, with more than 196,000 new cases registered in Africa last week, up from about 107,000 the previous week.

The WHO has said the number of new cases is currently doubling every five days, the fastest rate this year. Although “the rate of spread is fast, deaths are still low and even fell 19 percent last week from the previous week,” the UN health agency reports.

DR. Matshidiso Moeti, The WHO Regional Director for Africa said he was cautiously optimistic that the number of deaths and serious illnesses would remain low in the current wave, but the slow introduction of vaccines in Africa means both are much higher than they should be.

Speaking at a virtual press conference, Dr. Moeti added that, knowing that new variations could regularly emerge to create new epidemics worldwide, “vaccine-free regions such as Africa would be particularly vulnerable.”

Source: ANI