WHO Europe chief voices 'grave concern' about COVID rebound
Geneva, Nov 4: A 53-country region in Europe and Central Asia faces the real threat of a resurgence of the coronavirus pandemic in the coming weeks or already is experiencing a new wave of infections, the head of the World Health Organisation's regional office said Thursday.
Dr. Hans Kluge said case counts are beginning to near record levels again and the pace of transmission in the region, which stretches as far east as the former Soviet republics in Central Asia, is of grave concern.
We are at another critical point of pandemic resurgence, Kluge told reporters from WHO Europe headquarters in Copenhagen, Denmark.
Europe is back at the epicentre of the pandemic, where we were one year ago.
He said the difference now is that health authorities know more about the virus and have better tools to combat it.
Relaxed prevention measures and low vaccination rates in some areas explain the latest surge, he said.
Kluge said hospitalisation rates due to COVID-19 in the 53-country region more than doubled over the last week.
If that trajectory continues, the region could see another 500,000 pandemic deaths by February, he said.
WHO Europe says the region tallied nearly 1.8 million new weekly cases, an increase of about 6% from the previous week, and 24,000 COVID-19 weekly deaths, a 12% gain.
Kluge said the countries in the region were at varying stages of vaccination rollout and that region-wide an average of 47% of people were fully vaccinated.
Only eight countries had 70% of their populations fully vaccinated.
We must change our tactics, from reacting to surges of COVID-19, to preventing them from happening in the first place, Kluge said.
WHO's headquarters in Geneva on Wednesday reported that cases had risen in Europe for the fifth consecutive week, making it the only world region where COVID-19 is still increasing.
The infection rate was by far the highest in Europe, which reported some 192 new cases per 100,000 people.
Several countries in Central and Eastern Europe have seen daily case numbers shoot up in recent weeks.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
ED searches: Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah accuses Centre of targeting Cong leaders
Chamarajanagara (Karnataka) (PTI): Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Tuesday accused the central government and its agencies of consistently targeting Congress members by using searches on their properties, and questioned why similar action is not taken against BJP leaders.
He was reacting to searches conducted by the Enforcement Directorate on Monday on several individuals, among them the sons of Karnataka Congress MLA N A Haris and the grandson of former Union Cabinet minister K Rahman Khan, in connection with a cryptocurrency-linked money laundering case.
"The central government always targets Congress leaders. Will they raid the houses of BJP leaders?" Siddaramaiah said in response to a question. More than a dozen premises in the city were searched as part of the operation carried out by the ED under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
The premises searched comprised those of Mohammed Haris Nalapad and Omar Farook Nalapad, the sons of the MLA; Aqeeb Khan, the grandson of veteran Congress leader K Rahman Khan; and an alleged crypto hacker, Srikrishna Ramesh, alias Sriki, officials said.
The money laundering case stems from Karnataka Police FIRs and charge sheets filed in a 2017 case involving the hacking of national and international websites, theft of bitcoins, and the sale of these stolen virtual digital assets (VDAs) through crypto platforms by the alleged hacker Sriki and his associates.
Mohammed Haris Nalapad, Omar Farook Nalapad, and Aqeeb Khan are alleged to be beneficiaries of the proceeds of crime generated through this crypto-linked activity, officials added.
