Coronavirus infections are hitting record levels in many countries across Europe as winter takes hold, prompting a call for action from the WHO which described the new wave as a “grave concern”.

Soaring numbers of cases, especially in eastern Europe, have prompted debate on whether to reintroduce curbs on movement before the Christmas holiday season and on how to persuade more people to get vaccinated.

That conversation comes as some countries in Asia, with the notable exception of China, reopen their tourism sectors to the rest of the world.

“The current pace of transmission across the 53 countries of the European Region is of grave concern,” regional WHO head Hans Kluge said, adding that the spread was exacerbated by the more transmissible Delta variant.

The virus spreads faster in the winter months when people gather indoors. Kluge warned earlier that if Europe followed its current trajectory, there could be 500,000 Covid-related deaths in the region by February.

“We must change our tactics, from reacting to surges of Covid-19, to preventing them from happening in the first place,” he said.

The region saw a 6 per cent increase in new cases last week, with nearly 1.8 million new cases, compared to the week before. The number of deaths rose 12 per cent in the same period.

Germany, Europe’s biggest economy, reported 33,949 new infections, the highest daily increase since the start of the pandemic last year. Cases in Russia and Ukraine are soaring.

Austria’s daily new coronavirus infections surged towards a record set a year ago, making a lockdown for the unvaccinated ever more likely.

Covid-19 prevalence in England rose to its highest level on record in October, Imperial College London said, led by a high numbers of cases in children and a surge in the southwest.

Slovakia reported 6,713 new cases, also a record, while daily new cases in Hungary more than doubled from last week to 6,268.