KEY POINTS
  • There are growing concerns in Europe at what is being seen as an alarming rise in coronavirus cases.
  • The number of new daily infections has reached record highs in some countries.
  • Targeted lockdowns and restrictions are returning across the continent.

LONDON — A dramatic rise in new coronavirus cases in Europe has been characterized as a "wake up call" by the World Health Organisation's top official in Europe.

"We have a very serious situation unfolding before us," WHO's regional director for Europe, Hans Kluge, said Thursday in a press briefing on the epidemiological situation in the region. "Weekly cases have now exceeded those reported when the pandemic first peaked in Europe in March."