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Malta and Portugal listed as COVID-19 safest countries this winter
Malta and Portugal listed as COVID-19 safest countries this winter
According to UK newspaper The Telegraph, Malta and Portugal are considered to be the safest places in Europe this upcoming winter. In line with data released by expert leading disease monitoring across the continent, the two countries are likely to “avoid the consistent waves of infection”, due to higher vaccination rates.
According to the experts, most of western Europe is bound to be struck, as is already happening, with another wave of COVID-19 cases in the coming weeks and months. In the words of Dr Bruno Cancio, the director of the European Centre of Disease Control (ECDC), “three distinct epidemiological trends” are emerging across Europe, which will dictate how countries fare this winter.
The critical factor, added the doctor, is vaccination coverage across the entire population, including teenagers. “This is a pandemic that will be driven more and more by those unvaccinated.”
The first cohort of countries, those likely to avoid a substantial resurgence is small. In fact, only Malta and Portugal are included on the list, primarily due to the fact that more than 80% of their populations have been fully vaccinated, the ECDC data shows.
Coverage at this level will not only break the link between infection and severe disease, it will also have a great affect on reducing transmission. Therefore, it will be less likely that we see significant waves of infection.
Will we see a repeat of last winter?
Dr Bruno Cancio warned that countries like Germany, Ireland and Denmark – where cases are steadily increasing – are likely to see significant rises over the next few weeks and months. However, this does not mean that these countries, among the rest of Europe, are on track for a repeat of winter 2020. The ECDC estimates that 200,000 deaths have been avoided in Europe due to the vaccination rollouts. Also, hospitalisations are likely to remain lower than previous waves.
The region, however, is still at a critical point and boosting vaccination rates to resemble Malta and Portugal should be the priority to curtail the virus.
