<p>Several European countries, including Germany, France, Italy and Britain, lifted their Covid curbs too "brutally" and are now seeing a rise in cases likely due to the more transmissible BA2 variant, the World Health Organisation said Tuesday.</p>.<p>WHO Europe director Hans Kluge told a press conference in Moldova that he was "optimistic but vigilant" about the pandemic's development in Europe.</p>.<p>Covid is on the rise in 18 out of 53 countries in the WHO European region, he said.</p>.<p>"The countries where we see a particular increase are the United Kingdom, Ireland, Greece, Cyprus, France, Italy and Germany".</p>.<p><strong>Also Read: <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/international/covid-19-hasn-t-gone-away-warns-us-surgeon-general-vivek-murthy-1093102.html" target="_blank">Covid-19 hasn’t gone away, warns US Surgeon General Vivek Murthy</a></strong></p>.<p>He said the main reason behind the increase was likely the BA2 variant, which experts say is about 30 per cent more contagious, but not more dangerous, than its predecessor BA1.</p>.<p>But in addition, "those countries are lifting the restrictions brutally from too much to too few," he said.</p>.<p>According to the WHO database, the number of new Covid cases in Europe fell sharply after a peak at the end of January, but has been on the rise again since early March.</p>.<p>Over the past seven days, more than 5.1 million new cases and 12,496 deaths have been reported in the WHO's European region.</p>.<p>That brings the number of cases since the start of the pandemic to almost 194.4 million and the number of deaths to more than 1.92 million.</p>.<p>Kluge said Europe was nonetheless relatively well set to cope with the virus now.</p>.<p>"There is a very large capital of immunity ... either thanks to the vaccination or due to the infection."</p>.<p>In addition, "winter is finishing so people will gather less in small, crowded places, and thirdly, we know that Omicron is milder in fully vaccinated people including a booster", he said.</p>.<p>However, he recalled that "in countries with a low vaccination rate it's still a disease which kills."</p>.<p>Kluge said the world "will have to live with" Covid "for quite a time, but that does not mean that we cannot get rid of the pandemic."</p>.<p>In order to do so, he said countries needed to protect the vulnerable, strengthen their surveillance and genomic sequencing, and get access to new antiviral medicines.</p>.<p>Finally, he said countries needed to take care of 'post-covid' sufferers and the backlog of medical care that has arisen during the pandemic.</p>.<p><strong>Watch the latest DH Videos here:</strong></p>
<p>Several European countries, including Germany, France, Italy and Britain, lifted their Covid curbs too "brutally" and are now seeing a rise in cases likely due to the more transmissible BA2 variant, the World Health Organisation said Tuesday.</p>.<p>WHO Europe director Hans Kluge told a press conference in Moldova that he was "optimistic but vigilant" about the pandemic's development in Europe.</p>.<p>Covid is on the rise in 18 out of 53 countries in the WHO European region, he said.</p>.<p>"The countries where we see a particular increase are the United Kingdom, Ireland, Greece, Cyprus, France, Italy and Germany".</p>.<p><strong>Also Read: <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/international/covid-19-hasn-t-gone-away-warns-us-surgeon-general-vivek-murthy-1093102.html" target="_blank">Covid-19 hasn’t gone away, warns US Surgeon General Vivek Murthy</a></strong></p>.<p>He said the main reason behind the increase was likely the BA2 variant, which experts say is about 30 per cent more contagious, but not more dangerous, than its predecessor BA1.</p>.<p>But in addition, "those countries are lifting the restrictions brutally from too much to too few," he said.</p>.<p>According to the WHO database, the number of new Covid cases in Europe fell sharply after a peak at the end of January, but has been on the rise again since early March.</p>.<p>Over the past seven days, more than 5.1 million new cases and 12,496 deaths have been reported in the WHO's European region.</p>.<p>That brings the number of cases since the start of the pandemic to almost 194.4 million and the number of deaths to more than 1.92 million.</p>.<p>Kluge said Europe was nonetheless relatively well set to cope with the virus now.</p>.<p>"There is a very large capital of immunity ... either thanks to the vaccination or due to the infection."</p>.<p>In addition, "winter is finishing so people will gather less in small, crowded places, and thirdly, we know that Omicron is milder in fully vaccinated people including a booster", he said.</p>.<p>However, he recalled that "in countries with a low vaccination rate it's still a disease which kills."</p>.<p>Kluge said the world "will have to live with" Covid "for quite a time, but that does not mean that we cannot get rid of the pandemic."</p>.<p>In order to do so, he said countries needed to protect the vulnerable, strengthen their surveillance and genomic sequencing, and get access to new antiviral medicines.</p>.<p>Finally, he said countries needed to take care of 'post-covid' sufferers and the backlog of medical care that has arisen during the pandemic.</p>.<p><strong>Watch the latest DH Videos here:</strong></p>