The World Health Organization said that several European countries lifted their coronaviruses restrictions too soon and that they are now seeing a rise in infections.
Hans Kluge, director of the WHO's Europe region, said that countries like Germany, France, Italy and Britain had lifted their Covid curbs. Infections are increasing in 18 of the 53 countries in the region.
Kluge told journalists in Moldova on Tuesday that there were more than five million new cases and over 12,000 deaths in the region over the past seven days.
The United Kingdom, Ireland, Greece, Cyprus, France, Italy and Germany are some of the countries where there has been an increase.
The surge is probably due to a number of factors including the reduced immunity offered by vaccines over time, the relatively high transmission rate of Omicron and its BA2 subvariant, and the relaxing of curbs such as mask wearing and vaccine passes for access to many indoor public places.
The number of new Covid cases in Europe fell sharply from a peak at the end of January, but has risen again since March. Even though curbs are being lifted in some countries, infections are still reaching new records.
The seven-day rolling average of new daily cases per million was 2,619 on Saturday, the highest since the start of the Pandemic more than two years ago.
Austria reimposed the use of FFP2 masks indoors from Wednesday with its seven-day average per million standing at a record 4,985. The country's health minister admitted on 5 March that most restrictions had been relaxed too early.
The ministry regretted that the situation was likely to last for a long time because a decline in the current figures was not expected until after the next few weeks.
The requirement to wear masks in most indoor settings and a vaccine pass to access cafes, cinemas and restaurants were lifted early last week, but the daily average per million has gone up.
The number of patients in intensive care and the number of deaths from coronaviruses were going down in France, according to the authorities.
For the past few days the number of people being admitted to hospital has stopped falling, according to France's health minister.
There are no alarming signals so far in intensive care wards in France.
People will no longer have to show proof of vaccination or a negative test to enter indoor public spaces in Italy from 1 May, with outdoor venues exempt after 1 April and masks no longer required indoors from 30 April.
The country's seven-day average of new cases has doubled since March. The equivalent figure in the UK has risen from 398 at the end of February to 1,189 this weekend.
Europe is in a good position to deal with the virus, despite the rise in new infections.
He warned that in countries with a low vaccination rate, Omicron is still a disease that kills, even though it is known to cause milder symptoms in people who have had a booster shot.
Kluge said the world would have to live with Covid for a while, but that doesn't mean we can't get rid of the epidemic. To be able to do that, he said, countries need to protect vulnerable people, strengthen surveillance, and make sure they have access to new antiviral medicines.
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