The World Health Organization (WHO) has said that Europe is once again "at the epicenter" of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. 

WHO's Europe head has also warned that 500,000 deaths can be possible for the continent by February. The rise in cases has been attributed to low vaccination rates as well as the loosening of public health measures in different countries.

Europe is currently seeing a rise in COVID-19 cases for the fifth straight week. Some countries in the continent had record numbers in the past week or even in the past 24 hours. Among these countries are Gemany, Ukraine, and Croatia.

WHO Says Europe is at the Epicenter of Pandemic Again

WHO has said that the European continent is "at the epicenter" of the COVID-19 pandemic yet again, according to a report by the BBC. This is due to case numbers soaring once more across the continent. 

According to Maria Van Kerkhove, WHO's technical lead on COVID-19, said that "over the past four weeks, cases across Europe had soared over 55%."

The report also says that Hans Kluge, WHO's Europe head, has warned that deaths could reach 500,000 by February of next year. Kluge has blamed the rise in cases to the low vaccination rates in Europe. 

The rise in cases has also been blamed by WHO's Europe head on the loosening of public health measures in the organization's European region. It should be noted that, according to the BBC, WHO's European region includes countries in Central Asia. 

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Europe's COVID-19 Numbers in the Last 24 Hours

The BBC report notes that in the last 24 hours, Germany's daily COVID-19 cases reached almost 34,000. The BBC says that this number is a "record rise" for the country. 

The country's experts warned back in March that a third COVID-19 wave could be very devastating. According to a previous Tech Times report, Europe's second COVID-19 wave happened late last year. 

Meanwhile, Ukraine also had a record new case in the past 24 hours, which totaled to 27,377 cases. 

As for the number of deaths in the past 24 hours, Romania records the highest number in Europe with 591 deaths. 

Other COVID-19 Numbers for Europe

In the past week alone, Russia lost 8,100 people to COVID-19. Ukraine recorded 3,800 deaths in the past week as well. 

Daily COVID-19 case rates have gone up in the last week for Hungary, as numbers more than doubled to 6,268. Croatia recorded its highest number of new cases since the pandemic started. On Thursday, the country had 6,310 new cases. 

According to a report by Reuters, the continent has been seeing an increase in COVID-19 cases for five straight weeks already. Per the report, Europe recorded a 6% rise in cases as of Tuesday.

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Written by Isabella James