The World Health Organization (WHO) to Europe met on Wednesday to talk about the new variant of the coronavirus, which has wreaked havoc in the UK and caused maximum alert across Europe.
The WHO European region comprises 53 countries, including Russia and several Central Asian nations. In total, the region has recorded nearly 24 million cases of coronavirus and more than 500,000 deaths.
WHOr Europe said so gathered his members to discuss strategies to counteract the we, most infectious variant:
“This will be a closed expert meeting, not a planning meeting, and is an opportunity for UK health authorities to report on the situation and ask related questions,” a WHO spokeswoman said.
In a tweet, the UN health body said he found one “ssubstantial increase in virus transmission, but there is still no evidence of greater severity “ of the new variant.
The WHO also said “rapid studies” were being conducted to “examine the clinical severity and potential for reinfection,” adding that the variant was found more frequently at younger ages groups.
Hans Kluge, WHO the regional director for Europe analyzed the recent border closures imposed by European countries in the UK, in an attempt to stop the virus variant.
“Limiting travel to contain the spread is prudent until we have better information,” but Kluge warned that “essential supply chains and essential travel should be possible.”
Germany was one of the nations to ban flights from the UK, and on Tuesday Berlin extended the ban until 6 January.
Health Minister Jens Spahn said that “whenever possible”, Germany intends to prevent “potentially dangerous virus mutations from spreading to continental Europe”.
jcg / rt (dpa, AP)