Hans Kluge, regional director for Europe at the WHO, said on Thursday that the “epicenter” of the pandemic was now in the Americas, but the European region was “on a trajectory of its own, showing a different trend compared to the rest of the world.”

The United Nations health agency estimates that around 3.9 million people have contracted the coronavirus in the European region, corresponding to 17% of the global total.

“The risk of resurgence has never been far away. In the last two months, new cases have been steadily increasing every week in the region. There were 40,000 more cases in the first week of August, compared to the first week of June, when cases were at their lowest. Every day now the European region reports an average of over 26,000 new Covid-19 cases. This is due in part to the relaxation of public health and social measures, where authorities have been easing some of the restrictions and people have been dropping their guard”, - Kluge said during an online press briefing.