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the epidemic has shifted again, for the second week running the European region accounted for the largest share of reported new cases – over 1.3mn during the week, which is a 33% week-on-week increase.
Most of Europe – including much of the Central and Southeast Europe region – reported over 1,000 cases per million of the population in the seven days.
On a more positive note, although the number of deaths is gradually increasing, the proportion of deaths to cases remains relatively low compared to the early phase of the pandemic in the spring, the WHO said.
During this period, in emerging Europe Czechia had the greatest increase in new coronavirus cases compared to its population; a total of 81,970, or 7,669 per million of the population.
Both Slovenia and Armenia – which has been reporting high infection figures since the start of the pandemic – have reported over 4,000 new cases per million inhabitants in the last week, and there were over 2,000 each in Croatia, Georgia and Slovakia.
Last week, Prague limited free movement of citizens and ordered the closure of most retailers in the country. Most of the measures will stay in effect until the end of the state of emergency on November 3. This was followed by an overnight curfew for all citizens announced by Health Care Minister Roman Prymula on October 26.
Slovakia’s Prime Minister Igor Matovic announced on October 22 the country will follow its neighbour and close most of its schools and require the population to stay at home expect for trips to be tested, going to work and securing essentials or taking a walk close to their homes, to mitigate the second wave of the coronavirus epidemic. “This is the last way to avoid a total lockdown that many other countries have gone for,” Matovic told reporters, quoted by Reuters.
In an attempt to tackle the crisis, Slovakia has become the first country in the world to start the pilot stage of mass testing for COVID-19 in two of the most severely affected districts. A total of 140,945 people had themselves tested on October 23-25.
There has also been a worrying growth in new infections in Poland, which is now considering a new lockdown as it failed to stop the spread with softer measures. Poland reported a record 18,820 new cases on October 27.
In Southeast Europe’s worst affected country, Slovenia, a lockdown, including an overnight curfew, has already been imposed. The list of facilities that will be closed includes hotels and restaurants, casinos, hairdressing and beauty services, wellness and fitness centres, swimming pools, cinemas, cultural and other service providers.
“In the last week, Slovenia reported their highest daily increase in the number of new cases, 1,964; the rapid rise in cases has resulted in the healthcare system being stretched to capacity,” commented the WHO on October 27.
Amid a worsening of the situation in the South Caucasus, Armenia reported 4,443 cases per million of the population during the week.
The escalation of hostilities between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the Nagorno-Karabakh enclave has made it much more difficult to fight the spread of COVID-19. The WHO regional director for Europe, Dr Hans Kluge,
8 GEORGIA Country Report November 2020 www.intellinews.com
