Europe has become the first region in the world where the number of deaths caused by the new coronavirus has exceeded 500,000, according to Reuters calculations, as the new strain of the virus discovered in the United Kingdom threatens disease reduction measures. Information about the new variant of the coronavirus in England led to new restrictions before Christmas and dozens of countries closed their borders for travel in the UK this week. Italy, the country with the highest death toll from Covid-19-related deaths in Europe, found a patient infected with the new variant of coronavirus on Sunday, as well as Denmark and France.
To reduce the spread, European countries are considering checking passengers flying from the UK and quarantining passengers. To date, about 30 percent of all deaths caused by Covid-19 worldwide have occurred in Europe, according to data analyzed by Reuters. Mortality has risen in Europe in recent months. Since the first death was reported in France in February, the region has reached 250,000 deaths from the new coronavirus in eight months. Now, the death toll rose from 250,000 to 500,000 in just 60 days. France, Spain, Italy, the United Kingdom, and Russia have reported hundreds of deaths a day, and nearly 60 percent of those deaths have occurred in the five countries. Globally, 77.52 million cases of Covid-19 and 1.71 million deaths have been reported so far, according to Reuters. Meanwhile, the Chilean Armed Forces has announced that 36 infected people have been found on the Bernardo O’Higgins Riquelme army base in the Antractica, making it the last continent the disease has reached.
Title image: The Bernardo O’Higgins Riquelme base of the Chilean Armed Forces on Antarctica.
