Since the start of the pandemic, Europe has recorded over 100 million COVID-19 cases, accounting for more than a third of all infections worldwide, as per the AFP tally released on Saturday.
In recent months, the continent has once again become the epicentre of the pandemic, with an increase in cases fueled by the virus’s highly virulent Omicron strain.
According to the reports, the European zone over the previous two years, which includes 52 nations and territories stretching from the Atlantic coast to Azerbaijan and Russia, has recorded over 100,074,753 COVID-19 infections.
It is equal to more than a third of the 288,279,803 cases reported globally since the pandemic began in late 2019.
Over 4.9 million European illnesses have been reported in only the last seven days, with 17 of the 52 countries or territories breaking their previous record for the most cases in a single week.
Over the past week, France has reported over one million new cases, accounting for 10% of all positive cases reported since the pandemic began.
The countries with the highest infection rate per 100,000 people were all in Europe. Denmark received the lowest score of 2,045, followed by Cyprus (1,969) and Ireland (1,964).
Covid-related deaths, on the other hand, are on the decline in Europe.
Over the past week, Europe had an average of 3,413 COVID-19 deaths each day, down 7% from the previous week. In January last year, the average was 5,735 deaths per day.
The European continent’s population is currently, on average, more vaccinated than the global average.
According to the reports, 65% of Europeans are partially vaccinated, while 61% are fully vaccinated, which is higher than the global averages of 58% and 49% each.
The World Health Organization believes that the global death toll could be two to three times greater if COVID-19 related increased mortality factored in.
