PARIS: Europe became the first region in the world on Thursday to pass the milestone of 500,000 coronavirus deaths.

The 52 countries and territories of the European region have recorded 500,069 deaths -- ahead of Latin America and the Caribbean on 477,404, the United States and Canada (321,287), Asia (208,149), the Middle East (85,895) and Africa (57,423).

Europe has once again become the epicentre of the pandemic since October — alongside the United States — after having already been the focus of global attention in March-April.

Almost 37,000 people have died in Europe over the past seven days, the highest weekly toll since the start of the pandemic.

Five countries account for more than half of the deaths in Europe: Italy (66,537 deaths), the United Kingdom (65,520), France (59,361), Russia (49,151) and Spain (48,596). Belgium remains the country with the highest number of deaths in relation to its population, with 158 deaths per 100,000 inhabitants, followed by Italy (110), Bosnia-Herzegovina (107), Slovenia and Northern Macedonia (105).

Published in Dawn, December 18th, 2020