Omicron spreading rapidly across Europe, deaths remain relatively low

GENEVA

While the omicron variant of COVID-19 continued to spread across Europe, no major increase was observed in the number of deaths.

In a statement on Jan. 11, Hans Kluge, the World Health Organization (WHO) regional director for Europe, said that more than 7 million cases of omicron were detected in Europe in the first week of the year, which means more than double the increase compared to the previous week.

Kluge warned that in six to eight weeks, the omicron variant will infect more than half of the population in Europe.

According to the Worldometer website, which gives current and projected data on COVID-19, the number of cases in European countries has increased by 21% since Jan. 6.

The mortality rate during the same period were relatively low in most of the European countries.

France is one of the countries most affected by the omicron variant in Europe.

According to official figures, the number of COVID-19 cases has increased by approximately 45% in the last week. The average number of cases per day rose to 259,264.

Some 1,496 people died from COVID-19 in the last seven days in the country, which means the mortality rate increased by 4% compared to the preceding week.

The number of cases in Germany in the last week was recorded at 352,428, up 53% compared to the previous week.

In the last seven days, 1,703 people died from COVID-19 in the country, down 4% from the previous week.

Spain recorded a total of 806,956 COVID-19 cases over the past week, up 7% from the preceding week. Some 694 people lost their lives to COVID-19 in the past week, which represents 59% increase in the mortality rate compared to the week prior.

A total of 36,530 virus cases were detected in Bulgaria in the last seven days, a 49% increase compared to the previous week.

In Belgium, the average number of daily cases increased by 96% to 21,874 in the last week.

Although the number of cases and hospitalizations increase in Belgium, the number of deaths from COVID-19 is decreasing. The average number of daily deaths in the country last week was 17, which represents a 29% decrease compared to the preceding week.