The World Health Organization raises alarm to the European countries about “pandemic fatigue” which it says threatens the continent’s ability to fight against the coronavirus on Tuesday.
WHO Europe director Dr Hans Kluge said “Although fatigue is measured in different ways, and levels vary per country, it is now estimated to have reached over 60 percent in some cases,”.
He said this is based on “aggregated survey data from countries across the region.”
Citizens have made “huge sacrifices” over the last eight months to try and contain the coronavirus, he also said in a statement.
“In such circumstances it is easy and natural to feel apathetic and demotivated, to experience fatigue.”
Kluge has called on all European authorities to listen to the public and work with them in “new and innovative ways” to prompt the fight against Covid-19, which has its increase across Europe.
He cited a local authority in the UK which has sought out communities to assess their feelings, and a city in Denmark where students have been involved in assembling restrictions that allow them to return to university.
Turkey has employed social media polls to understand public sentiment, while Germany’s government “has consulted philosophers, historians, theologians, and behavioural and social scientists,” Kluge said.
According to the organisation’s official statistics, the WHO’s Europe region, which consists of 53 countries including Russia, has recorded more than 6.2 million cases and nearly 241,000 deaths related to the virus.
