Europe has been reporting more than 26,000 daily new coronavirus cases on average since governments started relaxing measures implemented to stop the spread of the disease, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
The increase can be explained in part by the fact that "authorities have been easing some of the restrictions and people have been dropping their guard," WHO Europe chief Hans Kluge said during a news conference on Thursday.
Kluge said that with 3.9 million coronavirus cases, the region accounts for 17% of the global total. While Europe made great strides in suppressing the virus after it was hit "early and hard," Kluge affirmed that the "risk of resurgence has never been far away."
He said that "new cases have been steadily increasing every week in the region" since restrictions began easing. Europe recorded 40,000 more cases in the first week of August compared to the first week of June, when cases were at their lowest, he added.
Kluge said that the key challenge was "that localized outbreaks and clusters are now occurring with greater frequency, often in closed settings." The WHO Europe chief said that these outbreaks should not interfere with the plans for children to return safely to school, and announced a meeting for all 53 countries in the region on ensuring safe, high-quality education.
Suggested measures include opening schools in areas with low virus levels, adjusting schedules and keeping students numbers low in areas with widespread cases.
A new season: Kluge said it was "critical that countries monitor flu activity and restore and reinforce routine surveillance to include both viruses, and that they promote flu vaccination for at-risk groups." He emphasized the greater stores of knowledge countries have for dealing with the virus in the fall.
Kluge said he was "very concerned that more and more young people are counted among reported cases," telling Europe's youth that they "have their part to play" in suppressing the virus and advising against large gatherings.