European Countries 'Experiencing Larger Outbreaks' of Local COVID-19 Transmission

Coronavirus cases in Europe have surpassed 4.6 million, according the World Health Organization (WHO).

As fears over a second wave of the outbreak in Europe remain, the U.K. and 13 European Union nations are currently "reporting community transmission," according to the latest report Wednesday by the WHO.

Countries reporting community transmission are "experiencing larger outbreaks of local transmission defined through an assessment of factors including, but not limited to: large numbers of cases not linkable to transmission chains; large numbers of cases from sentinel lab surveillance; and/or multiple unrelated clusters in several areas of the country/territory/area," the WHO explained.

Eight of the 13 EU nations reporting community transmission also reported a percentage increase in their "14-day incidence" of new cases per 100,000 people in recent weeks, according to the data compiled by the WHO.

The "14-day incidence values represent incidence (number of new cases reported) per 100,000 population over the past 14 days. Percentages indicate change in 14-day cumulative incidence as compared to 14 days ago," the WHO noted.

14 countries in Europe reporting community transmission

Source: World Health Organization
(as of September 9)

Hungary

• New cases per 100,000 in latest 14-day period: 42
• Change from 14 days prior: 772 percent increase
• New cases in latest 14-day period: 4,089
• Total cases: 9,304

Weekly new cases in Hungary remained mostly flat from early May to late July before increasing for five successive weeks, starting from the week commencing August 3, according to WHO.

France

• New cases per 100,000 in latest 14-day period: 134
• Change from 14 days prior: 99 percent increase
• New cases in latest 14-day period: 87,366
• Total cases: 335,524

Weekly new cases in France have been increasing for the past eight consecutive weeks, starting from the week commencing July 13. The weekly case count declined from late March to early May before mostly flattening out through mid-July, according to WHO.

U.K.

• New cases per 100,000 in latest 14-day period: 37
• Change from 14 days prior: 65 percent increase
• New cases in latest 14-day period: 24,762
• Total cases: 352,560

Weekly new cases in the U.K. have been mostly rising for the past eight consecutive weeks, starting from the week commencing July 13, according to WHO. The weekly case count decreased from late April to late June, before mostly flattening out after then.

Croatia

• New cases per 100,000 in latest 14-day period: 91
• Change from 14 days prior: 35 percent increase
• New cases in latest 14-day period: 3,755
• Total cases: 12,285

Weekly new cases in Croatia declined from late March through late April before mostly flattening out through July. But the weekly case count increased sharply from early August, according to WHO.

Denmark

• New cases per 100,000 in latest 14-day period: 33
• Change from 14 days prior: 23 percent increase
• New cases in latest 14-day period: 1,876
• Total cases: 18,356

Weekly case totals in Denmark mostly increased mid-July, after declining from late April and mostly flattening out from late May through June, according to WHO.

Austria

• New cases per 100,000 in latest 14-day period: 49
• Change from 14 days prior: 22 percent increase
• New cases in latest 14-day period: 4,362
• Total cases: 30,200

Weekly case totals in Austria increased on a sharper incline from the week commencing August 10, after declining sharply from late March to late April and mostly flattening out through late June, according to WHO.

Netherlands

• New cases per 100,000 in latest 14-day period: 53
• Change from 14 days prior: 19 percent increase
• New cases in latest 14-day period: 8,999
• Total cases: 76,475

Weekly new cases in the Netherlands have been increasing from mid-July. The weekly case count remained mostly flat from mid-May to early July, after declining sharply from early April to early May, according to WHO.

Lithuania

• New cases per 100,000 in latest 14-day period: 16
• Change from 14 days prior: 6 percent increase
• New cases in latest 14-day period: 437
• Total cases: 3,131

Weekly new cases in Lithuania have been increasing from early July to late August, after mostly flattening out from early May through June, according to WHO.

Romania

• New cases per 100,000 in latest 14-day period: 86
• Change from 14 days prior: 0 percent
• New cases in latest 14-day period: 16,643
• Total cases: 97,033

Weekly case totals in Romania increased from early June to late July but flattened out after then through August, according to WHO.

Finland

• New cases per 100,000 in latest 14-day period: 6
• Change from 14 days prior: 1 percent decrease
• New cases in latest 14-day period: 356
• Total cases: 8,337

Weekly new cases in Finland have been declining since early April and mostly flattened out from early June through August, according to WHO.

Luxembourg

• New cases per 100,000 in latest 14-day period: 85
• Change from 14 days prior: 13 percent decrease
• New cases in latest 14-day period: 521
• Total cases: 6,974

Weekly new cases in Luxembourg flattened out from late April to late June and then rose through late July. The weekly case count then declined through August, according to WHO.

Poland

• New cases per 100,000 in latest 14-day period: 22
• Change from 14 days prior: 16 percent decrease
• New cases in latest 14-day period: 8,453
• Total cases: 71,526

Weekly case totals in Poland remained mostly flat from early April to late June. Weekly new cases rose from early July to early August before flattening out after then, according to WHO.

Belgium

• New cases per 100,000 in latest 14-day period: 44
• Change from 14 days prior: 23 percent decrease
• New cases in latest 14-day period: 5,111
• Total cases: 89,047

Weekly new cases in Belgium have been declining from early April to late May, before flattening out through early July. From then, the weekly case tally mostly increased through early August before flattening out again, according to WHO.

Sweden

• New cases per 100,000 in latest 14-day period: 23
• Change from 14 days prior: 35 percent decrease
• New cases in latest 14-day period: 2,280
• Total cases: 85,707

Weekly new infections in Sweden declined from late June to late July before slightly increasing through early August. The weekly case count declined through the rest of August, according to WHO.

The novel coronavirus has infected over 27.8 million people across the globe since it was first reported in Wuhan, China. Over 903,700 have died following infection, while more than 18.7 million have reportedly recovered, as of Thursday, according to Johns Hopkins University.

The graphic below, provided by Statista, illustrates COVID-19 cases by patient outcome across the globe.