VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Coronavirus cases reported in Europe more than doubled in 10 days, passing 200,000 daily infections for the first time on Thursday, according to a Reuters tally, with many Southern European countries reporting their highest one-day cases this week.

Europe recorded 100,000 daily cases for the first time on October 12. Europe has so far reported about 7.8 million total coronavirus cases and around 247,000 deaths, according to a Reuters tally.

European countries such as Italy, Austria, Croatia, Slovenia, and Bosnia recorded their highest one-day coronavirus cases on Thursday.

Europe reports more daily cases than India, Brazil and the United States combined. The increase is partly explained by far more testing than was carried out in the first wave of the pandemic. The global coronavirus count reached around 41.4 million cases and around 1.1 million deaths.

According to Reuters, Wednesday, the highest total infections reported in a single day worldwide, at 422,835. Currently, Europe accounts for nearly 19 percent of global cases and about 22 percent of global deaths, according to a Reuters tally.

In Western Europe, France, which reports the highest seven-day average of new cases in Europe with 25,480 infections per day, reported an all-time high of 41,622 new confirmed COVID-19 cases on Thursday, according to French health authorities.

To slow the spread of the infection, French Prime Minister Jean Castex on Thursday announced the expansion of a curfew due to the coronavirus to more than two-thirds of its population.

Another Western European country, the Netherlands, reported more than 9,000 in 24 hours, a new record, data released by the National Institute for Public Health (RIVM) on Thursday. Germany, which reported more than 10,000 cases daily for the first time on Thursday, extended travel warnings for Switzerland, Ireland, Poland, large parts of Austria and Italy including Rome.

Hospitals across Europe remain depressed. Although that figure is still far below the level at the peak of the crisis six months ago in the region, COVID-19 hospital admissions and occupancy are increasing again.

A World Health Organization (WHO) expert said on Monday, Europe and North America must follow the example of Asian countries that are sticking with anti-COVID measures and quarantining anyone who comes in contact with infected people. (Antaranews)