The World Health Organization today warned that Covid could cause the deaths of another 700,000.
Officials from WHO suggested that the death toll on Africa would rise to 1.5 million to 2.2million in March, amid a fourth and fiercely destructive wave.
The figure covers 53 European countries, which includes the UK, Kazakhstan, and Russia.
This prediction, if true, means Europe will face a slightly worse winter than the previous year, even though vaccines are now widely available.
Bodies are already ‘piling up’ on hospital wards in Romania, with Bucharest’s main hospital morgue now almost three-times over-capacity.
According to the WHO, the WHO’s new Indian “Delta” variant was responsible for the gloomy forecast. It also blamed vaccine scepticism, loosening Covid restrictions and increasing vaccine scepticism.
66% of European Union citizens are double-jabbered, with many other countries now offering booster doses.
Many countries have been forced to resign from their positions due to the escalating cases.
Germany’s southern region has seen an increase in disease outbreaks thanks to liberal schools.
The announcement comes after AstraZeneca boss suggested Europe’s hospitalisations were surging due to its slow rollout of their jabs to older age groups unlike the UK.
However, scientists believe Europe’s latest wave could be due to several other reasons such as slower booster rolls outs, longer lockdowns during the summer, and shorter intervals between vaccine doses.
As a sign that the crisis is growing, today’s Netherlands moved Covid patients to Germany in an effort to relieve pressure at its hospitals.
This graph displays daily Covid cases for millions of people in several European countries.
The graph below shows how many people have died in Europe over the past year. The graph shows that Poland, Italy and Belgium all had higher Covid death rates than the UK.
According to WHO officials, the death rate from Covid in Europe was already at 4200 per day since September.
According to a US report, the virus is now the most common cause of death in Africa.
Hans Kluge was the region director for Europe.
He said: ‘As we approach the end of 2021, let’s do everything we can by getting vaccinated and taking personal protective measures, to avoid the last resort of lockdowns and school closures.
‘We know through bitter experience that these have extensive economic consequences and a pervasive negative impact on mental health, facilitate interpersonal violence and are detrimental to children’s well-being and learning.’
Our World in Data — an Oxford University-based research platform — says 1.38million deaths have been recorded in Europe to date.
Britain ranks second on the continent with 144,000 deaths, while Russia is the worst-hit country at 256,000.
But when fatalities were considered by population — which experts say is a fairer comparison — Britain drops to 13th place with a rate of 2,116 deaths per million people.
More people died from the virus in Italy (2.205.3) than they did in Belgium (2.283.9).
Meanwhile CNN reporters visited the morgue at Budapest University Hospital this week and found corridors piled with bodies of deceased Covid patients.
Although the morgue can hold 15 people, 41 bodies arrived on the date that reporters were there. Nearly every bed in the expanded Covid ward was also full.
ClaudiuIonita, a nursing assistant, spoke with the outlet and said that she never believed such a tragedy could occur. That they would end up sending entire families to their graves.
Romania’s low vaccine rate of 37% made it one of the first EU members to experience a Covid outbreak in winter.
At 25%, only one country has a lower double jabbed rate than Bulgaria, which is 25 percent.
That forced the government to impose a night-time curfew and make Covid health passes mandatory for access to all indoor spaces, with Interior Minister Raed Arafat saying at the time that the country was in a ‘disaster situation’.
“We are now in this condition while receiving the vaccine. The majority of us have refused to be inoculated. He reacted by claiming that this situation could not have happened.
In Europe, there are more Covid intensive-care inpatients than ever before. This is a trend that has been evident since the beginning of this year. Comparatively, the UK has a declining number of patients who require intensive care.
While deaths from Covid remain well below the levels seen during Europe’s second and first waves of infection, they are beginning to increase rapidly in low-infection countries.
The UK has outperformed all other continents in its booster program. More than 20% of Brits now have a booster. This is nearly double what was available in Austria.
Schools that believe they can overcome diseases naturally have led to worsening epidemics in Germany’s southern region.
It comes after an outbreak of Covid at a Steiner school, whose attendants adhere to ‘anthroposophical’ teachings of Rudolf Steiner — including that children should be taught to paint before they can speak be allowed to learn at their own pace.
Tobias Rapp, a writer for Der Spiegel who once attended a Steiner school, said the schools are their attendants are not outwardly anti-vaccine.
However, he said that Steiner’s followers often view vaccines as interfering with the body’s relationship to nature. He suggested that they would prefer natural treatments over medical ones.
Steiner schools — which also exist in the UK and charge up to £10,000-per-year for a place — have in the past been at the centre of measles outbreaks.
After a Covid outbreak at one school in the city of Freiburg in October, inspectors found 55 teachers and students were carrying certificates claiming they were exempt from wearing masks – only three of which were found to be valid.
The bodies of Covid victims are filling up the Romanian morgues. This is after Covid, which has the lowest rates of vaccination in Europe, was recently hit.
Romanian Covid mortality rates and Covid infection numbers are falling since it put in partial shutdown. However, vaccine passports were introduced and morgues struggle to keep up.
This comes just a few days after Pascal Soriot, chief executive at AstraZeneca, stated that the EU’s decision to limit jabs in early 2011 could be responsible for Britain’s higher rates of infection.
Only 67million jabs were distributed on continent, as compared with 440million Pfizer ones. However, studies have shown that the Oxford-made jab offers longer-lasting protection.
According to Mr Soriot, BBC Radio 4’s Today program: “When you look at Britain there was a high peak in infections but not as many hospitalisations as Europe.
“In the UK, this vaccine was used for older persons. In Europe however, people initially thought that the vaccine didn’t work with older people.
French President Emmanuel Macron was accused by the British of politicizing the introduction of the British-made vaccine. In January, he called it ‘quasi-effective” for older people and claimed that the UK had rushed approval. Some referred to this as Brexit bitterness.
Germany’s chancellor Angela Merkel (66), also expressed doubts about the vaccine. She stated in February that she wouldn’t get it because her country’s vaccine regulator had infamously advised at the time that people over 65 shouldn’t have the jab. Merkel received the AstraZeneca vaccine in April.
EU skepticism surrounding the jab revolved around two Covid-positive people aged 65 and older, from 660 total participants.
Even though the vaccine was ultimately approved by France and Germany for seniors, it caused a lot of controversy and many Europeans resisted the idea. Some people, like Norway and Denmark stopped using AZ.