Number of confirmed COVID cases worldwide reach 40 million

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The number of confirmed COVID cases worldwide has reached 40 million, according to a tally recorded by Johns Hopkins University.

Monday’s data posted 40,050,902 confirmed COVID cases worldwide as Europe and the US suffer from a worrisome spike of infections.

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In August, Europe started to experience its “second wave” of coronavirus infections following the loosening of restrictions that authorities implemented in spring.

European nations struggle to curb the spread of the virus by re-imposing several restrictive measures on public life and the hospitality sector. The measures include the closure or limited opening of bars, pubs, and restaurants, banning social gatherings, and implementing curfews, now in effect in several major French cities, including Paris.

“Concerning” outbreaks in Europe

The World Health Organization (WHO) finds the coronavirus outbreak in Europe “concerning” as the number of intensive care beds shrinks.

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With its coronavirus outbreak, Europe posts 187 new Covid-19 infections per million people, based on a seven-day average. Overall, Europe, which covers the 27 European Union countries and the UK, records an average of around 97,000 new cases per day, up 44% from one week ago, based on a CNBC analysis of data from Johns Hopkins University.

The spike of cases across the region compelled France to announce a public health state of emergency. Germany and the UK implemented new measures in an effort to contain the spread of the virus.

Dr. Hans Kluge, the head of the WHO’s Europe office, believes that the cause of the increase of new coronavirus cases is the public’s lack of compliance when it comes to health and safety protocols.

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According to Maria Van Kerkhove, the WHO’s technical lead, Europe is not only seeing an increase in coronavirus cases. It faces an increase in hospitalizations and ICU admissions.

“We know of a number of cities across Europe where ICU capacity will be reached in the coming weeks,” Kerkhove said Friday during a press briefing at WHO’s Geneva headquarters. “That is concerning as we approach the flu season.”

Health authorities have warned that they are gearing up for the two bad viruses that would spread as the coronavirus outbreak bleeds in the flu season. Kerkhove asked people to “rally” together, adding the world is not in the same condition six months ago.

“We know so much more,” she said. “There is a lot of comparisons now versus what we were seeing in March. But the massive difference right now is that we have testing capacity increased, we have a public health workforce that has increased compared to where we were in March, we have medical facilities who have beds who are better trained and have better experience of dealing with Covid-19.”

The number of new COVID-19 cases in Europe has now surpassed that in the US, with Europe posting 187 new infections per million people, based on a seven-day average, compared with 162 new Covid-19 cases per million people in US.

Meanwhile, the US’ daily new infections continue to increase in more than half of states as they debate over the effectiveness of public safety protocols recommended by the country’s top health experts.