The World Health Organization and European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) said Europe may have entered another wave of the COVID pandemic as cases start to rise.
“Although we are not where we were one year ago, it is clear that the COVID-19 pandemic is still not over,” WHO’s Europe director, Hans Kluge, and ECDC’s director, Andrea Ammon, said in a joint statement, Reuters reports. “We are unfortunately seeing indicators rising again in Europe, suggesting that another wave of infections has begun.”
Cases have risen 8% in Europe in the first week of this month compared to the last week of September. Public health officials are advising European countries to administer both flu and COVID-19 vaccines to get ahead of the expected surge in cases of the flu.
The rise in COVID infections in Europe could likely foreshadow another wave in the United States since U.S’ COVID trends tend to follow Europe’s since the start of the pandemic.
CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices recommends that individuals get vaccinated against the influenza and COVID-19 viruses because it is the best protection.
