"Alarming rates" of covid-19 transmission in Europe 1:50
(CNN) -
After successfully fighting off the first wave of infections, Europe is now in the midst of a second wave of coronavirus as winter approaches, raising questions about what went so wrong.
The number of daily COVID-19 cases in the European Union and the UK this week reached record levels of more than 45,000 at a 14-day notification rate, according to the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) , and against this, new restrictions have been placed in places that had been successful during the reopening.
Leaders have expressed fears about the high number of cases that hospitals could face in the coming months and the imminent prospect of new national closures.
Europe's death rate has been stable for 72 days, according to the ECDC, although Bulgaria, Croatia, Malta, Romania, and Spain experience increases in death rates.
LOOK: Europe suffers a serious outbreak of covid-19 infections, says the WHO
There are trends that can explain the decline.
The increase comes just after the summer vacation season, when workers return to cities and children go back to school.
The World Health Organization has suggested that the increase could be due in part to the relaxation of measures, to people letting their guard down, and evidence indicates that young people are driving the second wave of infections in Europe.
Despite the growing number of recent cases and deaths in Europe, the continent still compares favorably with the United States.
Europe has reported 4.4 million cases and 217,278 deaths among a population of 750 million, while the United States has reported 6.7 million cases and 198,000 deaths in a population of 330 million.
The second wave
People gather along the banks of the Seine River at sunset in Paris on Thursday amid the resurgence of the coronavirus.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson told the media on Friday that the UK "now sees a second wave looming" and that it was "inevitable" as the number of daily COVID-19 cases exceeded 4,000 for the first time since May.
"Obviously, we looked very carefully at the spread of the pandemic as it evolves in recent days," Johnson said.
“There is no doubt, as I have said for weeks, that we could (and) now see a second wave looming.
We see it in France, in Spain, throughout Europe.
What we will see in this country is inevitable.
«I would not like to enter a second national closure.
The only way we can prevent it is that people follow the prevention guide.
The UK has the highest death toll in Europe at over 40,000 and new restrictions were placed on social gatherings across England this week.
Johnson faces a growing backlash even from his regular supporters in the British right-wing press, the Daily Telegraph and Spectator have questioned the government's plan, and Times of London columnist Matthew Parris has written that the "shine is gone" from Johnson.
His condemnatory words come amid widespread criticism of the collapse of the UK's test and trace system that even the prime minister admits is in "big trouble."
Similarly, in Madrid, new restrictions were announced on Friday, which accounts for about a third of all new cases in Spain, according to the Spanish Ministry of Health.
The country reported a record 12,183 daily cases on September 11, in addition, the highest number of cases has been recorded in Europe with more than 600,000 and more than 30,000 deaths.
For its part, France registered 13,215 new cases of covid-19 in 24 hours on Friday, according to data published by its National Health Agency, the highest number in this country since April.
The figures also showed a growing trend in hospital admissions with 3,626 new patients during the previous seven days.
In a major French city, CNN reported this week that hospitals were about to run out of ICU beds.
People dance in Leicester Square in central London on September 12, days before social gatherings were again restricted.
Meanwhile, the Czech Republic reported a record 3,130 daily infections on Friday, there masks were again mandatory in schools, and the Netherlands reported a record 1,977 cases.
Prime Minister Mark Rutte told a news conference that the country's number of daily infections was doubling in just over a week.
"With an R (reproduction rate) of 1.4, that number will grow in three weeks to more than 10,000 per day," he warned.
"You don't have to be a mathematician or a virologist to understand that these kinds of numbers will inevitably impact hospitals," he said.
Restaurants, cafes and bars in six Dutch regions will face new restrictions starting Sunday.
On the other hand, Italy registered on Friday the highest figures since May with 1,907 daily cases;
Poland recorded a record 1,002 daily cases of covid-19 on Saturday.
What went wrong
WHO director for Europe Hans Kluge this week warned of "alarming transmission rates" and a "very serious situation" in the region, adding that weekly cases have exceeded those reported during the March peak.
While there was an increase in cases in the age groups 50 to 79, in the first week of September, the highest proportion of new cases is still among those 25 to 49 years old, Kluge said.
At the end of August, Kluge reported that the gradual increase in cases in Europe could be partly explained by "the relaxation of social and public health measures, where the authorities have eased some of the restrictions and people have let down their guard" .
Students wearing masks arrive on September 14 for the start of the school year at Luigi Einaudi Technical High School in Rome, Italy.
The official also expressed that he was "very concerned because there are more and more young people among the reported cases" and assured that he does not recommend large meetings and parties.
In several countries, COVID-19 cases are increasing especially rapidly in densely populated cities, where people return to offices, schools and public places after measures eased after the peak of spring.
Like Spain, Austria has seen its biggest rebound in the capital.
Chancellor Sebastian Kurz told the Austrian national news agency APA last Sunday that the situation was "particularly dramatic" in Vienna, where there are more than half of the new infections recorded.
A waitress in Vienna wears a face mask as required by the new and stricter rules established by the Austrian government on September 14.
»We entered a second wave.
We face difficult months during the fall and winter.
The number of infections is increasing by the day, "he tweeted, calling on Austrians to reduce social contacts as the requirement to wear face masks expanded to more public places.
Turkey recorded 63 deaths in 24 hours this week, its highest death toll in one day.
Turkish Health Minister Fahrettin Koca spoke about the coronavirus at his weekly press conference on September 2, noting that the country was "in the second peak of the first wave."
"We are on this margin today, due to the meetings around the holiday period and the weddings held, which are an integral part of our traditions."
Italian authorities said in late August that about 50% of new covid-19 infections had been contracted during the summer holidays, across the country and abroad, mainly among young adults who have not been cautious about social distancing and mask wearing guidelines.
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Countries like Greece and Croatia, which were largely safe during the first wave, saw rapid growth in the number of cases in August, as tourists took summer vacations following the reopening of Europe's internal borders in June.
But Europe can have some peace of mind with this experience.
Professor Mark Woolhouse, an epidemiologist at the University of Edinburgh, told CNN earlier this month that the initial lockdown “was never, ever going to solve the problem for us in Europe or anywhere else;
it just postpones it.
While cases are increasing, this can be attributed in part to increased levels of testing, with daily deaths in Europe falling from 3,788 on April 18 to 504 on September 18 in a seven-day moving average, according to a CNN analysis of Johns Hopkins University figures.
CNN's Seb Shukla, Laura Perez Maestro, Ingrid Formanek, Eva Tapiero, Mick Krever, Valentina di Donato, Vasco Cotovio, Tomas Etzler, Nadine Schmidt, I
sil Sariyuce, and Melissa Bell contributed to this report.
covid-19 Europe
