The level of transmission of COVID-19 is “alarming” in Europe, noted Thursday the World Health Organization (WHO), which is also concerned about the quarantine shortening decided or envisaged in several countries, including France.
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“The September figures should serve as an alarm for all of us” across Europe, where the number of new cases is now higher than those recorded in March and April, said from Copenhagen the director of the European branch of the WHO, Hans Kluge.
The UN organization has also ruled out shortening its recommendation to a 14-day quarantine for all those who have been in contact with the virus.
“Our 14-day quarantine recommendation was based on our understanding of the incubation period and disease transmission, we would only revise it based on a change in our understanding of science, which doesn’t ‘is not the case until now, insisted Catherine Smallwood, responsible for emergency situations at WHO Europe.
In France, the duration of isolation has been reduced to seven days in the event of contact. It is ten days in the UK and Ireland and several European countries, such as Portugal and Croatia, are currently considering reducing it.
“When we know the immense individual and societal impact that can have a reduction, even minimal, of the duration of the quarantine (…), I encourage the countries of the region to follow a regular scientific procedure with their experts and to explore safe reduction options, ”Kluge insisted.
The WHO’s Europe zone, which includes 53 countries, including Russia, has nearly 5 million official cases and more than 227,000 deaths linked to the virus, according to the organization’s surveillance table.
Due to a resumption of the epidemic, but also to the testing capacities greater than the wave of March-April, the number of recorded daily cases is currently around 40,000 to 50,000, against a daily peak of 43,000 on the 1st. last April, according to these data.
The new all-time high now dates from September 11, with some 54,000 cases recorded in 24 hours.