The EU’s Disease Control Authority expects a further sharp rise in corona infection cases in Europe in the coming weeks. The number of new infections could almost quintuple by early August, according to forecasts released Friday by the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC). The cause is the highly contagious Delta variant and the relaxation of corona restrictions in many countries.
The forecasts of the EU authority relate to the territory of the EU, Norway and Iceland. The ECDC expects the number of new cases to rise to 420 per 100,000 population during the week ending August 1. The following week, the value could be over 620. Last week, however, 90 new cases per 100,000 population were reported in the region.
The number of hospital treatments and corona deaths will increase more slowly due to ongoing vaccination campaigns, according to the ECDC. Currently, two-thirds of the 30 countries observed by the EU authority show an increasing trend in new infections.
During the week of July 5-11, the number of new infections in the EU jumped 60%. “In the hardest-hit countries, the largest increases and the highest reporting rates have been reported among 15-24 year olds,” ECDC said.
Spain and Portugal are currently classified as “of great concern” according to the ECDC. For four other EU countries – the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Malta and Cyprus – the authority qualifies the situation as “moderately worrying”.
According to the ECDC, 63.4% of the population over the age of 18 have received at least one dose of the vaccine so far, 47.8% are fully vaccinated (as of July 11).
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