Europe now 1st region to top 500,000 virus deaths
A migrant is transferred by ambulance to a hospital, after disembarking from a Spanish coast guard vessel in the port of Arguineguin on the island of Gran Canaria, Spain on Wednesday.
Europe became the first region worldwide to cross 500,000 COVID-19 deaths on Tuesday, according to a Reuters tally, as a new variant of the coronavirus discovered in Britain threatened the region’s prevention measures to curb the pandemic.
Reports of the mutated variant out of England prompted a pre-Christmas lockdown and have forced dozens of countries close their borders to British travelers this week. Italy, the nation with the highest death toll in Europe, on Sunday detected a patient infected with the new variant as have Denmark and France.
Europe has reported about 30 percent of the global COVID-19 fatalities and cases so far.
Europe’s death toll has accelerated in recent months. Since the first COVID-19 death was reported in France in February, it took eight months for the region to reach 250,000 deaths. It took only 60 days for the region to go from 250,000 to 500,000 deaths.
French President Emmanuel Macron, who contracted COVID-19 last week, is doing better, his office said yesterday.
Macron tested positive for the virus last Thursday showing symptoms of fatigue, coughing and muscle aches.
The president, who self-confined in an official residence near Paris from where he is running meetings remotely, had promised daily updates on his health.
He is now “showing signs of improvement,” the Elysee Palace said.
The French authorities are concerned that the holiday period could see a new spike in infections, after the country’s total COVID-19 death toll went above 60,000 last week.
