Norway has recently registered record high infection rates. Last week it was too first recorded over 2000 daily cases of infection – and the average for the last seven days is 2055 infected per day.
Like Norway, several European countries have recently experienced an extensive increase in infection. This worries the World Health Organization (WHO).
“Covid-19 has once again become the leading cause of death in our region,” WHO’s Europe chief, Hans Kluge, told BBC Saturday. He also warned that another 500,000 corona-related deaths would be registered by March if the trend is not reversed.
The virus’ new iron grip
– Extremely difficult
Ukraine is among the countries in Europe that have been hardest hit by the new wave of infection.
Almost every day, new records are set in terms of both infection rates and the number of corona-related deaths. On Thursday, the country reported 752 new deaths, which according to AFP is the third highest number in the world.
– The situation is only getting worse. The hospital beds are full, more and more patients are becoming seriously ill and there is a severe shortage of doctors and health personnel, says Oleksandr Molchanov, doctor at Kakhovka Hospital, to the news agency AP.
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He continues:
– We try to put out the fire again. We work strictly, but our strength is limited.
The previous government of Ukraine decided to close a number of hospitals in smaller cities. This means that people living in these areas are dependent on health care from major cities – also during the pandemic. As a result of the new wave of infections in the country, the waiting time for an ambulance can be up to eight hours in the districts.
“This means that patients are in an extremely poor condition when they arrive at the hospital,” doctor Antoliy Galachenko told the news agency.
NRK profile Lars Egil Mogård is dead
Furious against the authorities
Ukraine’s low vaccination coverage is pointed out as a possible cause of the violent outbreak of infection. Only 21 percent of Ukraine’s 41 million inhabitants are fully vaccinated, despite the fact that the four vaccines Pfizer, Moderna, AstraZeneva and Sinovac have been approved for use.
– People believe in the most absurd rumors about the vaccines. Older people in the risk group refuse to be vaccinated, which increases the burden on the health care system considerably. People believe more in their neighbors than in health professionals, says Molchanov.
105 serious messages
The dramatic situation is causing great concern among politicians in the country. Former Prime Minister and leader of the opposition party Fedrelandsforbundet, Yulia Tymoshenko, is harsh on the government.
“The corona mortality we are now registering is no longer just mortality – it is the killing of people who do not have oxygen, medicines or beds – carried out by the government,” she says.
The criticism comes despite the fact that the government has demanded that teachers, doctors and public servants must be fully vaccinated by 1 December. Several measures were also recently introduced for the unvaccinated, where, among other things, they are denied entry to several public places.
In order to get more residents vaccinated, President Volodymyr Zelensky has also promised all fully vaccinated Ukrainians a payment of 35 euros.
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