21:32 18 October 2020
Time to step up measures to combat pandemic in Europe: WHO
The World Health Organization (WHO) regional director for Europe, Hans Kluge, said Thursday that it was time to step up measures to fight the pandemic.
However, he called for the restrictions to be proportionate and for the closure of schools to be the last resort. Kluge answered this way at a press conference to the question about the rapidly growing number of infections, including in the Czech Republic and other countries of the region.
"The time has come to tighten up measures," said the head of the European WHO region, noting that the virus is spreading exponentially.
The higher number of infections reported – but also lower mortality and hospitalization rates than in spring – were related to the greater number of tests and the fact that younger people are now infected more often. At the same time, the expert warned that if Europe fails to suppress the new wave of the virus, as a result, the death toll in January could be 4-5 times higher than in spring.
