Germany reported the highest daily death toll from the pandemic, with 1,188 deaths in the last 24 hours. The previous record was 1,129 on December 30.
The country, which was praised for managing the first wave of the pandemic, is currently in a strict national deadlock, which has been extended until 31 January.
Meanwhile, in the United Kingdom, the mayor of London declared a “major incident” on Friday, warning that the capital’s hospitals are close to being overrun.
“The situation in London is now critical, with the spread of the virus out of control,” Mayor Sadiq Khan said in a statement.
“The number of cases in London has grown rapidly, with more than a third of patients being treated in our hospitals, compared to the peak of the pandemic last April.
“We are declaring a major incident because the threat this virus poses to our city is in a time of crisis,” Khan added. “If we do not take immediate action now, ours [National Health Service] it could be overwhelmed and more people will die. “
The mayor’s office said there were currently 7,034 people in London’s Covid-19 hospitals, up 35% from the peak of the April pandemic.
British Health Minister Matt Hancock said on Thursday that the government was placing “additional resources” in London and other parts of England, where the NHS is under “most significant pressure”.
Deaths are rising to record levels in the UK as health officials face a deadly start to 2021. The country reported 1,162 deaths on Thursday, the second-highest figure since the start of the pandemic.
British health officials are also struggling to cope with the new variant of the virus that was first detected in the country as it spreads in public.
This strain seems to spread more easily than others, but there is no evidence that it is more deadly or that it causes more severe disease.
The coronavirus crisis is deepening in Ireland, where health officials say they are deeply concerned about a sharp rise in cases, with 6,521 infections recorded on Thursday alone.
Holohan said the new British version has contributed to growth.
Ireland tightened its blockade on Wednesday, closing construction sites and schools across the country. An exception was made for final year students due to school exams.
“We are fighting a deadly and ever-changing virus,” Irish leader Micheál Martin said on Twitter on Wednesday. “The blockade we are introducing today is designed to reflect that pure and simple reality.”
WHO calls for stricter measures
As governments struggle to vaccinate people and cope with the onset of winter, the World Health Organization (WHO) has called for more intensive measures to deal with the British strain.
“With increased transmissibility and a similar severity of the disease, the variant … raises the alarm: without increased control to slow the spread, there will be an increased impact on already stressed and pressurized health institutions,” the WHO Europe Director said on Thursday , Hans Kluge.
“This is an alarming situation, which means that for a short time we need to do more than we have done and step up social and social health measures to make sure we can smooth the steep vertical line in some countries,” Kluge said. added.
Kluge also called on countries “to alleviate this burden by doing everything they can to reduce transmission and increase vigilance to identify any new variants.”
The British variant has now been detected in 22 countries in the WHO European region.
Sugam Pokharel and Arnaud Siad from CNN contributed to this article.