PARIS, Dec 26 (NNN-AGENCIES) — More than 25 million coronavirus cases have been officially recorded in Europe, according to official health statistics at 1100 GMT on Friday.
The 52 nations are the world’s worst affected zone in terms of the number of infections, followed by the US and Canada at 19,188,172, Latin America and the Caribbean at 15,024,469 and Asia at 13,617,004.
Europe was the first global region to clock half-a-million deaths on December 17.
UK: A record number of people have tested positive for COVID-19 in England as millions spend Christmas Day away from friends and family due to a continuing spike in coronavirus infections on Friday.
Figures from the National Health Service’s (NHS) Test and Trace network show that between Dec 10 and 16, 173,875 people received a positive result – the highest weekly total of positive cases and a 58 per cent increase on the previous week.
Separately, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), positive cases of coronavirus are increasing sharply in parts of the UK, with around one in 60 people now testing positive in Wales and one in 85 in England.
Experts believe the new mutations of the deadly virus are driving cases up across the country as they are more contagious. It has resulted in most parts of the UK to be placed in some form of stringent lockdown measures, with London and surrounding areas in Tier 4 level of highest alert with a near-complete shutdown.
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has warned that tougher restrictions could be needed to keep a mutant coronavirus strain “running out of control” in the New Year. — NNN-AGENCIES
