Number of Covid-19 cases on the rise in Europe for the fifth week in a row. Cyprus ranks first, Romania among the last

The number of infections has risen in Europe for the fifth week in a row, although hospitalizations remain stable and the situation remains a “moderate concern”, the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) said on Friday.

The incidence of new cases in the last seven days (until 1 August) in the European Union (EU) and the European Economic Area (EEA) was 214 per 100,000 inhabitants, 6% more than the previous week, while the mortality rate increased to 4.7 per million people (more than 30%). Cyprus has the highest number of cases per 100,000 inhabitants in the last 14 days (1,241.77 contagions) followed by Spain (720.71) and France (414.27), while Poland (4.29), Hungary (8) and Romania (9.31), reported the lowest figures.

ECDC, the EU’s reference body for epidemics, considers the situation to be of high concern in two countries (France and Iceland), moderate in 12 countries (including Spain), low in eight and very low in eight other countries. The forecast for the next two weeks shows a “stable” trend, both for infections and deaths, with a rate of 224 cases per 100,000 inhabitants and 6.9 per million people, respectively.

The ECDC’s weekly report predicts an increasing trend of new cases in 17 countries (Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Romania and Sweden) and an increase in mortality in three countries (France, Greece and Spain).

“The current epidemiological situation, characterized by a large number of cases, is expected to continue due to the presence of the Delta variant, which has prevailed in recent weeks in the region,” the ECDC report said. ECDC notes that the highest rate of new cases was among young people, although there was an increase in the number of infections and among the elderly as well as hospitalizations.