Czech To Poland Signal Restrictions Easing, WHO Says Threat Of Omicron Variant In Eastern Europe Still High

JAKARTA - A new wave of infections from the Omicron variant of the coronavirus is moving towards eastern Europe, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Tuesday, urging authorities to step up vaccinations and other measures.

Over the past two weeks, COVID-19 cases have more than doubled in Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Russia and Ukraine, WHO Europe Regional Director Hans Kluge said in a statement.

The comments come at a time when several European countries, including the Czech Republic and Poland, have hinted at easing COVID-19 restrictions next month, if the number of daily infections continues to fall.

The WHO stressed the continuing need for measures such as rapid testing and masks, saying more than 165 million cases of COVID-19 have been recorded so far across the European region, with 25,000 deaths in the past week.

"Faced with the tidal wave of the Omicron, and the Delta still circulating widely in the east, this alarming situation is not the time to lift the measures we know are successful in reducing the spread of COVID-19," Kluge said.

Kluge added that he also asked the Government to examine local reasons for the low vaccination rate. The number of those aged 60 years and over who have completed mandatory doses of the COVID-19 vaccine in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Kyrgyzstan, Ukraine and Uzbekistan is less than 40 percent.