There has been a 50 per cent jump in the number of Covid-19 cases in Europe in the last month or so.

The increase has pushed the World Health Organisations to say that Europe has again become the epicentre of the pandemic, in the same way that it had been in the earlier stages of the spread of the disease.

We are where we were a year ago, the director of WHO’s 53-country Europe region, Hans Kluge, said. Based on the calculations of the more recent surge, the region could see another 500,000 pandemic deaths by February, he added.

Several countries all over Europe, in particular in the eastern part but also in places like Germany and the UK, are reporting a steady rise in new cases, so much so that some nations have resorted to re-introducing restrictions that they had eased not so long ago.

The vaccination campaign that started across Europe in late 2020 had led to a drastic drop in the number of cases, and had also meant that fewer people needed hospital treatment. The number of deaths had also been somewhat contained although, as we have always stressed, every loss of human life is a tragedy, particularly for the family of the victim.

But the uptake of the vaccine has not been equal to the expectations in many countries, and the effectiveness of the doses given in the first half of the year is now waning. This has inevitably caused a spike.

In Malta, we have had an excellent vaccination campaign which resulted in more than 90 per cent of the population getting the jab, but soon after summer it became clear that a booster dose was needed. This was offered to the more vulnerable sectors of society.

Now, however, the government is extending the opportunity to the rest of society, given that even Malta has seen an increase in the number of cases. Last Sunday we had 50 cases, a number that we had not seen in two months, while the number of active cases has crept above 400 again.

Health Minister Chris Fearne said that the Covid-19 booster will be offered to everyone aged 12 or over. So far, there are no plans to increase restrictions, given that Malta has a high vaccination rate and the number of persons needing hospital treatment is low.

Yet, as we have always said since the pandemic began, we cannot let our guard down. Malta has experienced its bad moments, particularly that peak in March this year which saw hundreds of new cases being reported every day.

We have to do our best not to go back to those terrible days. And one way of preventing a repetition is to take the booster shots when they become available. Another way is to continue to follow the restrictions imposed, which help in the containment of the disease.

Biologists are starting to believe that the SARS-CoV-2 (the virus that causes Covid-19) will not disappear in the way that other viruses did. Pandemic viruses such as this one may settle into a stable rate of occurrence, maintaining a constant pool of infected hosts capable of transmitted the virus. These viruses are described as being ‘endemic’.

It is up to all of us – each and every one – to make it as difficult as possible for the Covid-19 virus to remain active.