WHO says Covid-19 caused 159,000 excess deaths in 24 European countries

Cemetery workers bury a coronavirus victim in Turin, Italy, on May 6.
Cemetery workers bury a coronavirus victim in Turin, Italy, on May 6. Stefano Guidi/Getty Images

The Covid-19 outbreak has been responsible for 159,000 excess deaths in 24 European countries since early March, World Health Organization (WHO) Europe Director Hans Henri Kluge announced on Thursday.

Excess deaths is a term used to define the number of deaths which occurred in a given crisis above and beyond what would have been expected under ‘normal’ conditions.

The WHO lists 53 countries in its Europe region, including Russia and Turkey. 

According to Kluge, there have been over two million confirmed Covid-19 cases and over 175,000 confirmed deaths in the European region. Kluge said these death numbers are “above and beyond what we would have expected normally at this time of the year.”

Case information reported to the WHO has revealed that 94% of all Covid-19 deaths were people over the age of 60 years old, and 59% of those deaths were men.

From the total deaths, 97% of the cases had at least one underlying health condition, with cardiovascular disease being the most common.

Kluge also gave an update on the current spread of the virus in Europe, saying that in the past 14 days cumulative cases in the region have increased by 15%, with the region still accounting for 38% of cases and 50% of deaths globally.

Russia, the United Kingdom, Belarus, Turkey and Italy are the countries that have reported the highest cumulative numbers of confirmed cases in the last two weeks, Kluge said. Spain, Italy, the UK and France continue to account for 72% of all European Covid-19 deaths, he added.

As countries across the region continue to ease restrictions, Kluge stressed that “there can be no economic recovery without Covid-19 transmission under control.”

“Our priority must be to invest in health, invest in social protection and, above all, avoid austerity,” Kluge said.

He advised leaders to examine the lessons of the 2008 financial crash, where many countries cut spending on healthcare.

source: cnn.com