The World Health Organization is warning that a new wave of infections from the omicron variant of the coronavirus is moving toward Eastern Europe, and urging authorities to take appropriate measures.
The number of COVID-19 cases have more than doubled in Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Russia, and Ukraine over the past two weeks, WHO's Europe regional director Hans Kluge said in a statement on February 15.
Kluge said the 53-country region, which stretches into Central Asia, has now tallied more than 165 million confirmed coronavirus cases and 1.8 million deaths linked to the pandemic — including 25,000 in the last week alone.
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Kluge's warning comes at a time when several European countries including the Czech Republic and Poland have hinted at an easing of COVID-19 restrictions next month if daily infection numbers keep falling.
Omicron is milder than previous variants and health-care systems in most countries around the world aren’t under strain.
Kluge urged countries in the region to step up vaccination efforts, which have lagged in Eastern Europe compared to the other parts of the continent. He said less than 40 percent of people aged over 60 in Bosnia, Bulgaria, Kyrgyzstan, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan have completed a full series of COVID-19 vaccinations.
Highlighting the risks posed by the increased presence of the virus in Eastern Europe, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has put Azerbaijan and Belarus at the highest level for COVID-19, warning Americans to avoid traveling to either country.
The CDC on February 14 announced that it had placed the two countries at Level 4: Very High on its list of travel notices. The CDC also raised the warning level for South Korea and a number of smaller countries and territories, including Comoros and French Polynesia, to Level 4: Very High.
People who must travel to Belarus or Azerbaijan should make sure they are vaccinated and “up to date” with COVID-19 vaccinations before they travel, the notice said, adding that even people who are vaccinated against COVID-19 may still be at risk of getting and spreading the virus.