Worrying news comes from the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC). According to the analyzes of this EU agency, Poland is one of the four EU countries where the epidemic continues.
Bulgaria is the only EU country in which the pandemic is escalating, while the number of coronavirus infections in Poland, Romania, Sweden and non-EU UK remains stable.
– The country where we see an increase (infections) all the time is Bulgaria. There are also four countries where we don’t see significant changes in the last 14 days. They are: Poland, Romania, Sweden and Great Britain. We have seen a significant decline in all other countries, said Andrea Ammon, director of ECDC, to MEPs from the European Parliament’s environment, public health and food safety committee on Monday.
Her EU agency, ECDC, analyzes and interprets data from EU countries on 52 communicable diseases through the European surveillance system. Recently, ECDC’s work has focused on the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus. According to the data of this organization, almost 3,5 million infections have been recorded worldwide so far, and almost a quarter of a million people have died.
In Europe, where nearly 1,4 million infections have been confirmed, the most affected countries are: Spain (217 cases), Italy (466), UK (210), Germany (717) and Our Country (186).
Poland, where the virus appeared later than in the West, has definitely fewer infections – until Monday it was 14. confirmed cases. However, according to ECDC data, the dynamics of the spread of the virus has not decreased enough to be able to say that it is in retreat.
The head of the ECDC said that measures taken by the authorities of various countries, such as restrictions on leaving homes or the introduction of an obligation to receive social distancing, reduced the transmission of the virus by 45%. from April 8. – This initial wave of infections seems to have passed its peak and we now have a decline in most EU countries – she pointed out.
Ammon emphasized that many care centers for the elderly were hit hard by the pandemic. – The proportion of deaths in such institutions in some countries exceeds 50%. the total number of deaths, she said.
The director of ECDC warned that the data her institution receives from the Member States depends on how they carry out the tests. In this context, she pointed out that at the beginning of the pandemic, there was not enough material for laboratories to conduct tests on an appropriate scale.
Ammon also referred to the reported increase in the number of children admitted to intensive care units in the UK and several other countries. It is unclear what the link between COVID-19 and Kawasaki disease in children is, she admitted. “It could be a possible long-term consequence of other infections,” she said.
Find out more: Mysterious disease in children in the UK. Is this the result of the coronavirus?
The ECDC head noted that it is still unclear whether people who have antibodies because they have been infected with the coronavirus have immunity.
Wearing masks – ECDC position
Ammon spoke without enthusiasm about wearing masks, pointing out that only the specialized ones, such as FFP2 and FFP3, protect against the virus, while ordinary surgical or cotton masks do not protect against infection. “There is not much evidence of how wearing masks may contribute to preventing the spread of the virus,” she pointed out.
What’s more, she noted, masks can actually increase the risk, because people wearing them keep touching their faces, improving the coverage of the mouth and nose. According to Ammon, masks should not be the only means of preventing the spread of the coronavirus, but one of the additional tools used to do so.
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