COPENHAGEN: The World Health Organization's (WHO) Regional Director for Europe, Mr. Hans Kluge has warned countries against the premature lifting of Covid-19 restrictions.

Kluge's warning on Thursday came as the province has been seeing a rise in Covid-19 transmission rates, while its death toll was inching towards the 1 million mark, reports by Xinhua.

According to Kluge, case incidence in Europe continues its increasing trend, with over 1.2 million new cases reported last week.

Addressing a virtual press conference here, Kluge noted that "while 27 countries are currently in a partial or full nationwide lockdown, 21 are gradually easing restrictive measures". "Some are doing so based on the assumption that increasing vaccination uptake in countries would immediately lead to an improved epidemiological situation," he said.

"Such assumptions are too early to make." Kluge stressed that with vaccination coverage in the region ranging from less than 1 percent to 44 percent, it is "far too early to demonstrate the effect of vaccines on overall Covid-19 hospitalization and deaths".

Despite "giant scientific leaps and the introduction of effective tools that give us power over the virus", the WHO official acknowledged that in parts of the region, such as central Europe, the Balkans and the Baltic states, "case incidence, hospitalizations and deaths are now among the highest in the world".

"Last week, new deaths in the region surpassed 900,000. Every week, more than 20,000 people across the region lost their lives to the virus," said Kluge.

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