Not out of the woods: COVID cases rising in Western Europe

By MIKE CORDER
Associated Press

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — Nearly two years into a global health crisis that has killed more than 5 million people, infections are again sweeping across parts of Western Europe. That’s in a region with relatively high vaccination rates and good health care systems but where lockdown measures are largely a thing of the past. A World Health Organization official declared last week that the continent was “back at the epicenter of the pandemic.” Much of that is being driven by outbreaks in Russia and Eastern Europe. But Germany and Britain are seeing high new case numbers. Even in countries with high vaccination rates, large numbers remain unvaccinated.