Euro 2020: WHO warns of Europe Covid-19 surge after infections rise

Scenes of packed stadiums have authorities fearing a “Delta dominant” new Covid-19 wave in Europe as infections surge once again.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) is fearing another virus wave in Europe, with cases in the region rising 10 per cent in the past week, fuelled by Euro 2020.

WHO has called for better monitoring of the major sporting event as fans flock to crowded stadiums and bars across Europe while the pandemic continues to rage.

Health experts have expressed concerns the football tournament could become a superspreading event, with WHO senior emergency officer Catherine Smallwood urging host cities to better manage crowds.

“What we need to look at is around the stadiums. How are people getting there? Are they travelling in large, crowded convoys of buses? Are they taking individual measures when they’re doing that?” she said.

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Crowds packed into London’s Wembley Stadium for a match between England and Germany during the Euro 2020 Championship. Picture: Catherine Ivill/Getty Image

“What’s happening after the games when people leave the stadiums? Are they going to crowded bars and pubs to watch the matches?

“And we’ve said, should this mixing happen, there will be cases, because if this mixing is happening among people who are not fully vaccinated and there is the presence of the virus, there will be cases.”

The European region has recorded a 10 per cent spike in cases in the past week after cases fell for 10 straight weeks.

A combination of increased social mixing, the rise of the highly infectious Delta variant and an easing of restrictions has been driving up new cases.

Infections are rife among football spectators, including travellers returning to Scotland from London and Finnish people returning from St Petersburg.

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Covid cases are surging in Euro 2020 host city St Petersburg, Russia. Picture: Kirill Kudryavtsev/AFP

Cases set to rise as world opens up

Dr Smallwood anticipated a continued rise in infections as countries around the world opened up.

“These types of events are happening all around the region, all around the world, in much smaller, less visible instances,” she said.

“These small introductions, these continuous events that are happening, that are driving the spread of the virus.”

WHO regional director Hans Kluge said vaccination numbers were not high enough to protect against a possible new surge over summer.

“There will be a new wave in the WHO European region unless we remain disciplined,” he said.

Mr Kluge warned that the Delta variant could become the dominant strain in Europe by August, with 63 per cent of people still waiting for their first vaccine.

“By August, the WHO’s European region will be ‘Delta dominant’ – but it will also not be fully vaccinated, and it will be mostly restriction-free,” he said.

More needed to be done to avoid a surge in infections and deaths over the coming months, he warned.

“People have to do it by safely taking care of individual behaviour, but also governments, by strengthening health systems, increasing testing, contact tracing and sequencing,” he said.

The European Union’s disease control agency ECDC estimates the Delta variant could account for more than 90 per cent of new cases in the union by the end of summer.

UEFA slammed as ‘utterly irresponsible’

German Interior Minister Horst Seehofer has called European football’s governing body UEFA “utterly irresponsible” for allowing big crowds at Euro 2020.

London is due to host the semi-finals and the final of the tournament next week with 60,000 spectators, while St Petersburg will host the quarter-final on Friday.

However, UEFA dismissed claims that crowd numbers were based on commercial interests, stating such decisions would fall into the hands of host cities.

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A Euro 2020 volunteer wears a face mask in St Petersburg, Russia. Picture: Kirill Kudryavtsev/AFP

“The final decisions with regards to the number of fans attending matches and the entry requirements to any of the host countries and host stadiums fall under the responsibility of the competent local authorities, and UEFA strictly follows any such measures,” the body said in a statement.

Public Health Scotland revealed that almost 2000 people had attended a Euro 2020 event while infectious, of whom almost 1300 had travelled to London and almost 400 had been at Wembley for the match against England.

Meanwhile, health authorities in Finland have appealed to the public to avoid travelling to Russia after 400 infections were linked to fans returning from St Petersburg.

Russia has seen a record number of deaths in the past few days, with 672 fatalities and 23,543 new cases announced on Thursday.

In the UK, close to 28,000 new cases were recorded yesterday, the highest daily increase since January.