Europe Is Facing a New COVID-19 Wave and the US is Probably Next

The World Health Organization and the European Centre for Disease Control stated that Europe is entering a new wave of COVID-19.

"We are seeing indicators rising again in Europe, suggesting that another wave of infections has begun," Dr. Hans Kluge, WHO regional director for Europe, and Dr.

The most recent regional data for Europe from the WHO's COVID-19 dashboard shows that weekly reported cases in Europe began to rise in September. Europe recorded over one million new cases during the week ending in September.

In Germany and Italy there is an increase in infectious diseases. The new wave isn't completely surprising. The seasonal pattern that would spike in the winter is expected by Lighter.

What's to come in the U.S. may be influenced by Europe's fresh wave of COVID.

Lighter said that they have seen waves or bumps start in Europe and come to the U.S. within a couple of weeks.

According to Dr. Albert Ko, an infectious disease physician and professor of public health epidemiology and medicine at the Yale School of Public Health, COVID-19 hospitalizations have been on the rise recently in Europe. People over the age of 65 are more vulnerable to hospitalizations.

Lighter said that the majority of these cases are still made up of the omicron BA.4 and BA.5 variant. Lighter said they are not seeing the variant take hold.

The introduction of a new variant is not driving this wave, according to Ko. While people are gathering and traveling and kids are returning to school, restrictions such as masks have been phased out. Ko said that they were releasing themselves from a lot of the things that kept them protected during the Pandemic.

Ko said that low COVID-19 vaccine rates are a problem.

A lot of the factors that are contributing to this wave in Europe are present in the U.S.

The "pandemic is over" in the US was stated by President Biden three weeks ago.

300 to 400 people die every day in the U.S. Lighter said that it is going to increase again.

We are at the bottom of the curve according to the numbers here in the U.S.

We're past the "pandemic phase" where our health care system was swamped, but we're now in an endemic phase. Dr. William Schaffner said that we need to keep our guard up.

Vaccination is important for vulnerable people. Lighter said we have the tools to protect ourselves, but we need to use them more. She said that only one-third of people over the age of 50 have gotten their second booster.

The updated booster is still effective because the dominant strains are still BA. 4 and BA.5. Lighter said the good news is that we have a vaccine that is targeted for.

The updated bivalent booster is recommended for everyone over the age of 5. The Moderna booster for children as young as 6 years old was approved by the FDA earlier in the day.

It's important to remember that even if these vaccines don't have a big effect on transmission, they still prevent serious illness and death. As we head into the winter season, it's important that we keep that in mind.

Children's hospitals across the country have already been filling up due to an unprecedented surge in respiratory viruses such as enteroviruses and rhinoviruses.

Schaffner said that they are worried that this will be a twindemic winter because of the brisk flu season.

The experts recommend that everyone over the age of 6 months receive a flu shot. If you get a flu shot by the end of October, you can still protect yourself from the flu if you get it later in the season.

The experts emphasized the importance of getting vaccinations, as well as the importance of staying home when sick.

"People who are older, who have underlying illnesses, like heart disease, lung disease, diabetes, and anyone who's immune compromised, they should continue to wear a mask when they go indoors or in crowds."

A lot of people would like to look in the mirror and see their reflections. Schaffner said that people who have vulnerable family members or are caring for high-risk individuals should be careful.

Ko said, "People are tired of all these restrictions, so the key question is, how much more people are willing to do to protect themselves and protect others?"

The article was first published on TODAY.