Iran Press/ Europe: Europe is once again at the center of the COVID pandemic, the World Health Organization has said. Cases are at near-record levels and 500,000 more deaths are forecast by February. Uneven vaccine coverage and relaxation of preventive measures have brought Europe to a “critical point” in the pandemic, WHO says.
Germany recorded its second consecutive daily record for new coronavirus cases on Friday as infections pick up across Europe, and its disease control center said unvaccinated people face a “very high” risk of infection.
German state leaders said that hospitals could soon become swamped by COVID-19 patients and a new lockdown might be needed unless urgent action is taken to reverse a surge in cases.
Slovakia reported 6,805 new COVID-19 cases for the past day, the Health Ministry said today, a new daily record.
Russia reported 40,735 new COVID-19 cases and 1,192 deaths related to the virus. That is up from 40,217 cases yesterday.
Bulgaria and Romania, the two eastern EU countries with the bloc’s lowest vaccination rates – 25.5% and 37.2% of adults respectively – this week reported their highest daily COVID-19 death tolls since the beginning of the pandemic.
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