The Regional Director of Europe in WHO in, Hans Kluge, confirmed that Europe is currently witnessing a surge in COVID-19, calling on countries to continue efforts in confronting the pandemic and not to close schools except as a last measure.

In an interview with Agence France-Presse, Kluge said, "we are witnessing a surge" in the number of cases with "one million additional cases recorded in just a few days" in Europe. 

Kluge added that the world is "witnessing a gradual increase in [COVID-19] deaths."

"We can't be complacent," he warned.

The WHO's Europe region, which includes 53 countries, including Russia, has recorded more than 11.8 million cases and about 295,000 deaths since the start of the coronavirus crisis, according to WHO.

In the past seven days, about 1.8 million new cases were recorded, in addition to 19,500 deaths.

WHO estimates "with the [enforcement] of mask wearing and strict control of gatherings (...) the lives of more than 261,000 people [can be saved] by February in Europe."

Kluge added, "The status quo is not an option," and the UN is calling on countries to take "specific and proportionate" measures to confront the high number of new cases and deaths, but he added that schools should not be closed except as a last measure.

"There is no justification for saying that schools are one of the main factors for the transmission of [coronavirus]," emphasized Kluge.