NEW: There is "no indication" that peak of the coronavirus epidemic in Europe has been reached, according to the latest "rapid risk assessment" from the European Centre for Disease Control (ECDC) @ECDC_EU
2/ Despite evidence that in a number of EU countries the number of new cases and deaths reported daily appears to have decreased slightly, "many EU/EEA countries are currently only testing severe or hospitalised cases, therefore these trends should be interpreted with caution.
3/ "Despite early evidence from Italy and Austria that the number of cases and deaths are declining, there is currently no indication at EU/EEA level that the peak of the epidemic has been reached."
4/ The @ECDC_EU says 32% of Europe's diagnosed cases have required hospitalisation and 2.4% have had severe illness requiring respiratory support and/or ventilation. "The crude fatality rate was 1.5% among diagnosed cases and 11% among hospitalised cases."
5/ "The likelihood of hospitalisation, severe illness and death increases in persons over 65 years of age and those with defined risk factors including hypertension, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, chronic respiratory disease, compromised immune status, cancer and obesity."
6/ Overall the ECDC regards the risk of "severe disease associated with COVID-19" in Europe is considered "moderate" for the general population and "very high for populations with [the above] defined risk factors.
7/ The risk of increasing community transmission in the coming weeks is "moderate" if mitigation measures are in place, and "very high" if insufficient mitigation measures are in place...
8/ The risk of health system capacity being exceeded in the coming weeks is "considered high with mitigation measures in place and very high if insufficient mitigation measures are in place."
9/ Link to the ECDC's latest rapid risk assessment ecdc.europa.eu/sites/default/…
