Protesters took into streets in several European cities against the new restrictions and COVID-19 passes mandatory in many European countries.
Demonstrations against virus restrictions took place in Switzerland, Croatia, Italy, Northern Ireland and the Netherlands.
Protesters rallied against coronavirus restrictions and mandatory COVID-19 passes required in many European countries to enter restaurants, Christmas markets or sports events, as well as mandatory vaccinations.
COVID-19 cases are on the rise again in various parts of Europe. The cold weather has affected the spread of the virus.
Governments have imposed new travel restrictions across Europe in a bid to confront the spread of the new coronavirus wave.
Alarm Bells Raised
The World Heath Organisation (WHO) warned that Europe could see ‘another half million Covid-19 deaths’ by February.
The rising number of cases of Covid-19 in Europe is of “grave concern” and the region could see another half a million deaths by early next year, the WHO said in a statement issued on Thursday.
With 78 million cases in the WHO’s European region—which spans 53 countries and territories and includes several nations in Central Asia—the cumulative toll now exceeded that of South East Asia, the Eastern Mediterranean region, the Western Pacific, and Africa combined, the organisation said.
“We are, once again, at the epicentre,” WHO Europe director Hans Kluge told a press conference.
Kluge noted that the “current pace of transmission across the 53 countries of the European Region is of grave concern”.
According to “one reliable projection” the current trajectory would mean “another half a million Covid-19 deaths” by February, Kluge added.
Kluge blamed the soaring caseload on “insufficient vaccination coverage” and “the relaxation of public health and social measures”.
