Europe, still in the grip of the coronavirus pandemic, faces two million Covid-19 deaths by March, the World Health Organisation has said.
The grim warning came as the number of daily deaths rose to almost 4,200, double the daily fatalities reported at the end of September.
Reported deaths from the virus have already passed 1.5 million for the 53 countries that make up the WHO European region, the global health agency said.
Covid-19 is the number one cause of death across Europe and Central Asia, and the WHO said it expected there to be “high or extreme stress on hospital beds in 25 countries, and high or extreme stress in intensive care units in 49 of [the] 53 countries between now and March 2022".
Cumulative reported deaths are projected to reach more than 2.2 million by spring next year, based on current trends, it said.
“In order to live with this virus and continue our daily lives, we need to take a 'vaccine plus' approach,” said Dr Hans Kluge, WHO regional director for Europe.
“This means getting the standard doses of vaccine, taking a booster if offered, as well as incorporating preventive measures into our normal routines.
“Taken together, wearing a mask, washing hands, ventilating indoor spaces, keeping physical distance and sneezing into your elbow are simple, effective ways of gaining control over the virus and keeping societies going.
"In order to live with this virus and continue our daily lives, we need to take a 'vaccine plus' approach
Dr Hans Kluge,
WHO regional director for Europe
“All of us have the opportunity and responsibility to help avert unnecessary tragedy and loss of life, and limit further disruption to society and businesses over this winter season.”
According to the WHO, the three main factors driving the high case numbers in Europe are the spread of the Delta variant, which is highly transmissible; people being unvaccinated and waning immunity; and the fact many “countries have indicated to their populations that Covid-19 no longer represents an emergency threat and have eased measures such as mask-wearing and physical distancing in crowded or confined spaces".
Now that the weather has turned colder, people are also more likely to gather indoors, it 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,” Dr Kluge said.
“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.”
The head of AstraZeneca, Pascal Soriot, said the continuing crisis on the continent may be linked to countries choosing the wrong vaccine for their elderly populations.
Speaking to the BBC, Mr Soriot said he believes this may be the result of waning antibody responses, particularly in vaccines that use mRNA technology.
Following its approval, the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine was used to inoculate older people in Britain, but concerns over possible blood clot side-effects led to its use being curtailed in much of the EU.
“When you look at the UK, there was a big peak of infections, but not so many hospitalisations relative to Europe,” he told the BBC's Today programme.
“In the UK, this vaccine was used to vaccinate older people. Whereas in Europe, initially, people thought the vaccine doesn't work in older people.”
The grim prediction comes after German Health Minister Jens Spahn said on Monday that citizens there would be “vaccinated, cured or dead” by the end of this winter.
The WHO said vaccinations had saved “hundreds of thousands of lives” but it was essential to drive up vaccination rates among all those who were eligible for one.
“Today, the Covid-19 situation across Europe and Central Asia is very serious,” Dr Kluge said.
“We face a challenging winter ahead but we should not be without hope, because all of us — governments, health authorities, individuals — can take decisive action to stabilise the pandemic.”
Robb Butler, executive director for the WHO in Europe, told Sky news that he and his colleagues were “very alarmed” at the current Covid trajectory on the continent.
“It looks like we’re going to have a worrisome season ahead,” he warned.
“Of course, public health costs, the cost to our economies, the stress on our hospitals and communities and our ICUs”, he added.
The more transmissible Delta variant, he said, accounts for “around 99 per cent of the cases in Europe today”, adding: “That’s why this is happening.”
He said just over half of the population of Europe is fully vaccinated against the coronavirus “so there’s so much work to be done still, we’re not there yet”.
Mr Butler declined to be drawn on the comparison of different Covid vaccines, putting the rising cases and deaths down to waning immunity and low vaccination uptake among some populations.
He also reiterated the health agency’s advice on wearing face masks in indoor and crowded settings, saying if mask use increased the knock-on effects would be reductions in infections and fatalities.
“If we saw 95 per cent universal mask use we could project that we could save about 160,000 lives”, he said.
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AWARDS
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The years Ramadan fell in May
Trolls World Tour
Directed by: Walt Dohrn, David Smith
Starring: Anna Kendrick, Justin Timberlake
Rating: 4 stars
The Bio
Amal likes watching Japanese animation movies and Manga - her favourite is The Ancient Magus Bride
She is the eldest of 11 children, and has four brothers and six sisters.
Her dream is to meet with all of her friends online from around the world who supported her work throughout the years
Her favourite meal is pizza and stuffed vine leaves
She ams to improve her English and learn Japanese, which many animated programmes originate in
Tributes from the UAE's personal finance community
• Sebastien Aguilar, who heads SimplyFI.org, a non-profit community where people learn to invest Bogleheads’ style
“It is thanks to Jack Bogle’s work that this community exists and thanks to his work that many investors now get the full benefits of long term, buy and hold stock market investing.
Compared to the industry, investing using the common sense approach of a Boglehead saves a lot in costs and guarantees higher returns than the average actively managed fund over the long term.
From a personal perspective, learning how to invest using Bogle’s approach was a turning point in my life. I quickly realised there was no point chasing returns and paying expensive advisers or platforms. Once money is taken care off, you can work on what truly matters, such as family, relationships or other projects. I owe Jack Bogle for that.”
• Sam Instone, director of financial advisory firm AES International
"Thought to have saved investors over a trillion dollars, Jack Bogle’s ideas truly changed the way the world invests. Shaped by his own personal experiences, his philosophy and basic rules for investors challenged the status quo of a self-interested global industry and eventually prevailed. Loathed by many big companies and commission-driven salespeople, he has transformed the way well-informed investors and professional advisers make decisions."
• Demos Kyprianou, a board member of SimplyFI.org
"Jack Bogle for me was a rebel, a revolutionary who changed the industry and gave the little guy like me, a chance. He was also a mentor who inspired me to take the leap and take control of my own finances."
• Steve Cronin, founder of DeadSimpleSaving.com
"Obsessed with reducing fees, Jack Bogle structured Vanguard to be owned by its clients – that way the priority would be fee minimisation for clients rather than profit maximisation for the company.
His real gift to us has been the ability to invest in the stock market (buy and hold for the long term) rather than be forced to speculate (try to make profits in the shorter term) or even worse have others speculate on our behalf.
Bogle has given countless investors the ability to get on with their life while growing their wealth in the background as fast as possible. The Financial Independence movement would barely exist without this."
• Zach Holz, who blogs about financial independence at The Happiest Teacher
"Jack Bogle was one of the greatest forces for wealth democratisation the world has ever seen. He allowed people a way to be free from the parasitical "financial advisers" whose only real concern are the fat fees they get from selling you over-complicated "products" that have caused millions of people all around the world real harm.”
• Tuan Phan, a board member of SimplyFI.org
"In an industry that’s synonymous with greed, Jack Bogle was a lone wolf, swimming against the tide. When others were incentivised to enrich themselves, he stood by the ‘fiduciary’ standard – something that is badly needed in the financial industry of the UAE."
BORDERLANDS
Starring: Cate Blanchett, Kevin Hart, Jamie Lee Curtis
Director: Eli Roth
Rating: 0/5
BEETLEJUICE BEETLEJUICE
Starring: Winona Ryder, Michael Keaton, Jenny Ortega
Director: Tim Burton
Rating: 3/5
TOURNAMENT INFO
Women’s World Twenty20 Qualifier
Jul 3- 14, in the Netherlands
The top two teams will qualify to play at the World T20 in the West Indies in November
UAE squad
Humaira Tasneem (captain), Chamani Seneviratne, Subha Srinivasan, Neha Sharma, Kavisha Kumari, Judit Cleetus, Chaya Mughal, Roopa Nagraj, Heena Hotchandani, Namita D’Souza, Ishani Senevirathne, Esha Oza, Nisha Ali, Udeni Kuruppuarachchi
Brief scores:
Manchester City 2
Gundogan 27', De Bruyne 85'
Crystal Palace 3
Schlupp 33', Townsend 35', Milivojevic 51' (pen)
Man of the Match: Andros Townsend (Crystal Palace)
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
COMPANY%20PROFILE
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECompany%20name%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Alaan%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarted%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%202021%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Dubai%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounders%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Parthi%20Duraisamy%20and%20Karun%20Kurien%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ESector%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20FinTech%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestment%20stage%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20%247%20million%20raised%20in%20total%20%E2%80%94%20%242.5%20million%20in%20a%20seed%20round%20and%20%244.5%20million%20in%20a%20pre-series%20A%20round%3Cbr%3E%3Cbr%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Akeed
Based: Muscat
Launch year: 2018
Number of employees: 40
Sector: Online food delivery
Funding: Raised $3.2m since inception
Votes
Total votes: 1.8 million
Ashraf Ghani: 923,592 votes
Abdullah Abdullah: 720,841 votes
Most%20polluted%20cities%20in%20the%20Middle%20East
%3Cp%3E1.%20Baghdad%2C%20Iraq%3Cbr%3E2.%20Manama%2C%20Bahrain%3Cbr%3E3.%20Dhahran%2C%20Saudi%20Arabia%3Cbr%3E4.%20Kuwait%20City%2C%20Kuwait%3Cbr%3E5.%20Ras%20Al%20Khaimah%2C%20UAE%3Cbr%3E6.%20Ash%20Shihaniyah%2C%20Qatar%3Cbr%3E7.%20Abu%20Dhabi%2C%20UAE%3Cbr%3E8.%20Cairo%2C%20Egypt%3Cbr%3E9.%20Riyadh%2C%20Saudi%20Arabia%3Cbr%3E10.%20Dubai%2C%20UAE%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cem%3ESource%3A%202022%20World%20Air%20Quality%20Report%3C%2Fem%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
MOST%20POLLUTED%20COUNTRIES%20IN%20THE%20WORLD
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Milestones on the road to union
1970
October 26: Bahrain withdraws from a proposal to create a federation of nine with the seven Trucial States and Qatar.
December: Ahmed Al Suwaidi visits New York to discuss potential UN membership.
1971
March 1: Alex Douglas Hume, Conservative foreign secretary confirms that Britain will leave the Gulf and “strongly supports” the creation of a Union of Arab Emirates.
July 12: Historic meeting at which Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid make a binding agreement to create what will become the UAE.
July 18: It is announced that the UAE will be formed from six emirates, with a proposed constitution signed. RAK is not yet part of the agreement.
August 6: The fifth anniversary of Sheikh Zayed becoming Ruler of Abu Dhabi, with official celebrations deferred until later in the year.
August 15: Bahrain becomes independent.
September 3: Qatar becomes independent.
November 23-25: Meeting with Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid and senior British officials to fix December 2 as date of creation of the UAE.
November 29: At 5.30pm Iranian forces seize the Greater and Lesser Tunbs by force.
November 30: Despite a power sharing agreement, Tehran takes full control of Abu Musa.
November 31: UK officials visit all six participating Emirates to formally end the Trucial States treaties
December 2: 11am, Dubai. New Supreme Council formally elects Sheikh Zayed as President. Treaty of Friendship signed with the UK. 11.30am. Flag raising ceremony at Union House and Al Manhal Palace in Abu Dhabi witnessed by Sheikh Khalifa, then Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi.
December 6: Arab League formally admits the UAE. The first British Ambassador presents his credentials to Sheikh Zayed.
December 9: UAE joins the United Nations.
The Voice of Hind Rajab
Starring: Saja Kilani, Clara Khoury, Motaz Malhees
Director: Kaouther Ben Hania
Rating: 4/5
