The latest map of the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) published on Thursday shows continued improvement of the epidemiological situation in Eastern Europe and Spain.
However, most of the EU and the European Economic Area (EEA), including Cyprus, remains in the "deep red" category, the highest on the COVID-19 virus infectivity scale of record.
In particular, the province of Lower Carpathians in southeastern Poland becomes the first region in continental Europe to move into the "orange" category in several weeks, while still some areas in southern and central Poland, as well as in the northeastern part of the country, moved into the "red category" last week.
Almost all of Romania has now also moved into the "red" category, with the exception of central and western parts of the country and the capital Bucharest, which remain in "deep red".
The situation is also better in Spain, where large parts of central and northern Spain have also moved into the "red" category.
Improvement is also recorded in areas of central Hungary, eastern Croatia and the Aosta Valley in the north-western tip of Italy, which are in the red category. Malta remains in the red category.
Further improvement is observed in the French overseas department of French Guiana in South America (from red to orange category). The French Overseas Department of Mayotte in the Indian Ocean remains in the "green", i.e. now safe category.
Recall that last week Malta, some areas in south-eastern Poland, north-eastern Romania and central and southern Sweden were moved to the "red" category. It is worth noting that this week no data is included for Sweden as less than 600 tests per 100 thousand population have been performed.
The map aims to inform local authorities and citizens about the epidemiological situation at local level to facilitate decisions to impose restrictive measures and citizens' travel decisions.
The data presented in the map refers to the number of new cases of COVID-19 per 100 thousand people in the last 14 days in each region of the EU countries/ Also not shown is how many of the total cases are due to the Omicron variant.
The "green" category includes regions where the weighted case rate is below 40. When the index is below 100 but equal to or greater than 40, the affected areas fall into the "orange" category. When the index is below 300 but equal to or greater than 100, the areas fall into the 'red' category. When the index is equal to or above 300, they fall into the "deep red" category.
The map and related data are published by the ECDC every Thursday, supporting efforts made on the basis of an EU Council Recommendation on the coordination of restrictions on free movement due to the pandemic, which was revised on 25 January and implemented on 1 February.
The maps are based on the latest data in the database sent by Member States to the European Surveillance System (TESSy) by midnight on Tuesday.
Source: KYPE
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