Europe should brace for a second and more deadly wave of coronavirus which could hit in winter, a top World Health Organisation official has warned.
Dr Hans Kluge, WHO director for Europe, delivered the stark warning on Thursday as countries begin to relax their Covid-19 lockdown restrictions.
It comes as cases in countries like the UK, France, Italy and Spain begin to fall, however, numbers further east in Russian, Ukraine, Belarus and Kazakhstan have started rising.
Speaking to the Telegraph, Dr Kluge said that the falling numbers in the west does not mean the pandemic is over and now is the "time for preparation, not celebration".
He said countries should start to prepare for further waves by strengthening their public health systems and building capacity in hospitals, primary care and intensive care units.
“Singapore and Japan understood early on that this is not a time for celebration, it’s a time for preparation," Dr Kluge told the newspaper.
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"That’s what Scandinavian countries are doing - they don’t exclude a second wave. But they hope it will be localised and they can jump on it quickly."
Dr Kluge also warned that a second wave in winter could coincide with other infectious diseases breaking out including flu and measles.
England's chief medical officer, Professor Christ Whitty is among a raft of global experts, who have said a second wave could be deadlier - referencing the 1918-1920 Spanish flu pandemic which came in four waves.
Dr Kluge said: “We know from history that in pandemics the countries that have not been hit early on can be hit in a second wave."
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While European countries have been easing lockdown in the last few weeks, Dr Kluge said there was still no vaccine or treatment for Covid-19 so any lockdown easing had to be done “gradually and carefully’.
“People think lockdown is finished. Nothing has changed. The full disease control package has to be in place. That’s the key message,” said Dr Kluge.
