Beautiful Virgin Islands

Sunday, Sep 21, 2025

Europe at global epicentre as COVID deaths and cases continue to rise

Europe at global epicentre as COVID deaths and cases continue to rise

COVID-19 deaths have increased by 10% in the World Health Organization's Europe and Central Asia region over the last week.

The World Health Organization's (WHO) Europe and Central Asia region is the only one in the world where COVID-19 cases and deaths are rising.

It has seen coronavirus deaths increase by 10% over the last week, WHO said.

Nearly two-thirds of all global infections were in the region, where cases rose by 7%, the body added in its weekly report.

The number of weekly COVID-19 deaths fell by about 4% worldwide and declined in every region except Europe and Central Asia.

WHO’s Europe director Dr Hans Kluge said last week the region was "back at the epicentre of the pandemic".

Kluge warned that WHO's Europe and Central Asia region could see another 500,000 deaths by February if more actions weren’t taken to limit the spread of the virus.

Germany reports a new daily record of cases


Germany’s national disease control centre said it had recorded a record-high number of new coronavirus cases.

The Robert Koch Institute said 39,676 cases were registered on Wednesday, surpassing the previous daily record last Friday of 37,120 new cases.

Several hospitals have said in recent days that they are again working at their limits and have ICUs so full of COVID-19 patients that they cannot admit new patients.

"We have a real emergency situation right now," Christian Drosten, the head of virology at Berlin’s Charite Hospital.

Government officials have repeatedly said they do not intend to impose new lockdowns and have instead appealed to residents to get a COVID-19 vaccine. Around 67% of Germany’s population is fully vaccinated, according to official figures.

On Wednesday, Germany's standing committee on vaccinations published new recommendations, advising that citizens under the age of 30 should only receive the vaccine developed by Pfizer/BioNTech.

High infection rates in central Europe


Coronavirus cases have also soared to a new record high in Slovakia this week.

The Slovak Health Ministry reported that the daily increase of new infections hit 7,055 on Tuesday, surpassing the previous record last week.

The number of people needing hospital treatment also rose to a total of 2,478, with 370 admitted this week, the ministry said. About 80% of those hospitalised have not been fully vaccinated.

“We’re facing a catastrophic development in hospitals,” President Zuzana Čaputová said, adding that the vaccination rate needs to "significantly speed up".

In the neighbouring Czech Republic, new infections jumped to levels close to record numbers seen in January and March, authorities said.

Both Slovakia and the Czech Republic are below the EU average of citizens who have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19.

The two countries are each discussing additional measures to limit the spread of the virus.

More grim records in Russia


In Russia, new infections and deaths still remain at all-time highs. Around 40,000 cases and over 1,100 deaths have been registered every day in the country since late October.

Deputy Prime Minister Tatyana Golikova told a government meeting on Wednesday that nearly 83% of hospital beds reserved for coronavirus patients were filled.

Russia’s autumn surge in infections and deaths comes amid low vaccination rates, and the government’s reluctance to toughen restrictions.

Less than 40% of Russia’s population has been fully vaccinated, even though Russia has four domestically developed vaccines on offer.

Some Russian citizens have instead been travelling to Croatia and Serbia to be inoculated because the Sputnik V and other vaccines have not been approved by the WHO and the European Medicines Agency (EMA).

In total, Russia’s state coronavirus task force has reported 8.9 million confirmed infections and 250,454 deaths since the start of the pandemic -- by far the highest death toll in Europe.

However, some experts believe the official tally is significantly higher.

Newsletter

Related Articles

Beautiful Virgin Islands
0:00
0:00
Close
EU Set to Bar Big Tech from New Financial Data Access Scheme
China Bans Livestreaming and AI in Religion Amid Crackdown on Shaolin Temple Scandal
Documents Reveal Mandelson Failed to Declare Epstein-Funded Flights as MP in 2003
Dubai Property Boom Shows Strain as Flippers Get Buyer’s Remorse
Harris Memoir Sparks Backlash from Democrats for Blunt Critiques in ‘107 Days’
Germany Weighs Excluding France from Key European Fighter Jet Programme
Cyberattack Disrupts Check-in and Boarding Systems at Major European Airports
Japan’s ‘Death-Tainted’ Homes Gain Appeal as Prices Soar in Tokyo
Massive Attack Withdraws from Spotify Over Daniel Ek’s €600M Defence-AI Investment
Björn Borg Breaks Silence: Memoir Reveals Addiction, Shame and Cancer Battle
When Extremism Hijacks Idealism: How the Baader-Meinhof Gang Emerged and Fell
Top AI Researchers Are Heading Back to China as U.S. Struggles to Keep Pace
JWST Data Brings TRAPPIST-1e Closer to Earth-Like Habitability
Trump Orders Third Lethal Strike on Drug-Trafficking Vessel as U.S. Expands Maritime Counter-Narcotics Operations
Trump Orders $100,000 Fee on H-1B Visas and Launches ‘Gold Card’ Immigration Pathway
Why Google Search Is Fading and AI Is Taking Its Place
UAE-US Stargate Project Poised to Make Abu Dhabi a Global AI Powerhouse
Federal Judge Dismisses Trump’s Fifteen-Billion-Dollar Suit Against New York Times, Orders Refile
France’s Looming Budget Crisis and Political Fracture Raise Fears of Becoming Europe’s “Sick Man”
Three Russian MiG-31 Jets Breach Estonian Airspace in ‘Unprecedentedly Brazen’ NATO Incident
DeepSeek Claims R1 Model Trained for only $294,000, Sparking Global Debate Over China’s AI Capabilities
SoftBank Vision Fund to Cut Nearly Twenty Percent of Staff in Bold AI Strategy Shift
Intel’s Next-Gen Manufacturing Gets a Lifeline from Nvidia’s Strategic $5B Deal
Erika Kirk Elected CEO of Turning Point USA After Husband Charlie Kirk’s Assassination
Massive Strikes in France Pressure Macron and New PM on Austerity Proposals
Trump Seeks Supreme Court Permission to Remove Fed Governor Lisa Cook
Hillary Clinton’s Reckless Rhetoric Fuels Division After Charlie Kirk’s Assassination
NASDAQ Rises to Record as Intel Soars More Than 20%, Nvidia Gains 3%
Nvidia’s $5 Billion Bet on Intel Reshapes AI Hardware Landscape
Trump and Starmer Clash Over UK Recognition of Palestinian State Amid State Visit
Trump’s Quip on Biden and Google Lawsuit Revives Debate Over Antitrust Legacy
Macron and his wife to provide 'scientific photographic evidence' that she is a real woman
US Tech Giants Pledge Billions to UK AI Infrastructure Following Starmer's Call
Saudi Arabia cracks down on music ‘lounges’ after conservative backlash
DeepMind and OpenAI Achieve Gold at ‘Coding Olympics’ in AI Milestone
SEC Allows Public Companies to Block Investors from Class-Action Lawsuits
Saudi Arabia Signs ‘Strategic Mutual Defence’ Pact with Pakistan, Marking First Arab State to Gain Indirect Access to Nuclear Strike Capabilities in the Region
Federal Reserve Cuts Rates by Quarter Point and Signals More to Come
Effective and Impressive Generation Z Protest: Images from the Riots in Nepal
European manufacturers against ban on polluting cars: "The industry may collapse"
Sam Altman sells the 'Wedding Estate' in Hawaii for 49 million dollars
Trump: Cancel quarterly company reports and settle for reporting once every six months
Turkish car manufacturer Togg Enters German Market with 5-Star Electric Sedan and SUV to Challenge European EV Brands
US Launches New Pilot Program to Accelerate eVTOL Air Taxi Deployment
Christian Brueckner Released from German Prison after Serving Unrelated Sentence
World’s Longest Direct Flight China Eastern to Launch 29-Hour Shanghai–Buenos Aires Direct Flight via Auckland in December
New OpenAI Study Finds Majority of ChatGPT Use Is Personal, Not Professional
Hong Kong Industry Group Calls for HK$20 Billion Support Fund to Ease Property Market Stress
Joe Biden’s Post-Presidency Speaking Fees Face Weak Demand amid Corporate Reluctance
Charlie Kirk's murder will break the left's hateful cancel tactics
×