LONDON: The World Health Organization said on Tuesday that coronavirus cases have tripled across Europe in the past six weeks, accounting for nearly half of all infections globally. Hospitalization rates have also doubled, although intensive care admissions have remained low.

In a statement on Tuesday, WHO's Europe director, Dr. Hans Kluge, described Covid-19 as 'a nasty and potentially deadly illness' that people should not underestimate. He said super-infectious relatives of the omicron variant were driving new waves of disease across the continent and that repeat infections could potentially lead to long Covid.