A top official from the World Health Organisation says Europe has surpassed one million deaths from Covid-19 and the situation remains “serious,” with about 1.6m new cases reported each week in the region.

The comments by Dr Hans Kluge aimed to emphasise that Europe must keep up its guard with social distancing and speed up vaccinations as virus variants drive new infections to record levels in some nations.

Overall, a tally by Johns Hopkins University shows nearly three million deaths have been linked to Covid-19 worldwide — with the Americas hardest hit, followed by Europe. The United States, Brazil, and Mexico have reported the highest number of deaths, collectively at more than 1.1m.