WHO warns east European countries against reducing COVID-19 restrictions 

As the Omicron form spreads, a World Health Organization (WHO) official warned governments in east European countries not to ease COVID-19 restrictions too soon. 

“With the Omicron tidal wave still spreading broadly in the east, this troubling situation is not the time to abandon steps that we know work in slowing the spread of COVID-19,” said Hans Kluge, regional director of the WHO Office for Europe, in a statement on Tuesday. 

Due to the clear gap in vaccine coverage across Europe, Kluge urged governments in the east not to follow in the footsteps of Western governments by prematurely reopening their communities.

Instead, Kluge urged governments to increase vaccine coverage, encourage more self-testing and self-protection, scale-up evidence-based therapies in all nations, and “prepare for a growing burden of Long COVID.” 

“To date, we have registered more than 165 million COVID-19 instances across the entire WHO European Region,” Kluge stated. “This is still a fatal sickness; 1.8 million people have died, with 25,000 dying in the last week.” 

Kluge remarked that, as expected, the Omicron wave is migrating east, with “ten eastern member states now detecting this variety.”

Instead, Kluge urged governments to increase vaccine coverage, encourage more self-testing and self-protection, scale up evidence-based therapies in all nations, and “prepare for a growing burden of Long COVID.” 

“To date, we have registered more than 165 million COVID-19 instances across the entire WHO European Region,” Kluge stated. “This is still a fatal sickness; 1.8 million people have died, with 25,000 dying in the last week.” 

Kluge remarked that, as expected, the Omicron wave is migrating east, with “ten eastern member states now detecting this variety.”