Copenhagen, Denmark, 30 April 2020 : Who urged countries to continue prioritizing immunization, innovating services, communicating to parents and meticulously tracking every single missed vaccination. Catch up as quickly as possible where needed. The text of the Statement to the press by Dr Hans Henri P. Kluge, WHO Regional Director for Europe is as follows – Thank you for joining us. Today, it is three months since WHO’s Director-General declared a public health emergency of international concern over the outbreak of novel coronavirus. Now, as in past weeks the situation in the European Region remains serious. In broad terms, while plateauing in western Europe, the gradient of the epi-curve steepens as we look east. Across the Region, cumulative cases have increased by 15% in the past 7 days, and now stand at 1,408,266 cases. Deaths have risen by 18% over the same period. Tragically, 129,344 people in Europe have now lost their lives. My thoughts and deepest sympathy are with the families and loved ones of those we have lost. Today, the European Region accounts for 46% of cases and 63% of deaths globally. The Region remains very much in the grip of this pandemic. Spain, followed by Italy, the United Kingdom, Germany and France still have the highest number of cases. But following social and physical distancing measures introduced some weeks ago, we are now seeing evidence of a plateau or reduction in the number of new cases. We must monitor this positive development very closely. In the eastern part of the Region – Belarus, the Russian Federation, Kazakhstan and Ukraine – cases have increased in the past week, while in Turkey the situation is stabilizing. Here, we must maintain the full arsenal of measures we have to suppress transmission. As these figures demonstrate: the situation across our Region is not uniform. Every country is mapping out its route to a new normal, and every country is at a different place. Of the 44 countries in the European Region that have implemented partial or full domestic movement restrictions, 21 countries have started easing some of these measures to different…