A board displaying that COVID-19 test is no longer necessary for shopping is seen at an entrance of a shopping mall in Berlin, capital of Germany, June 4, 2021.(Photo: Xinhua)

Europe remains "in the firm grip" of COVID-19 and the continent's death toll could top 2.2 million in winter 2021 if current trends continue, the WHO warned on Tuesday.

Europe is battling an upsurge in the pandemic that saw Austria return to lockdown this week while Germany and the Netherlands are poised to announce new restrictions.

A further 700,000 people in the 53 countries that comprise the WHO's European region could die by March 1, the global health agency said, in addition to the 1.5 million who have already succumbed to the virus.

It expects "high or extreme stress in intensive care units in 49 out of 53 countries between now and March 1, 2022."

Europe's return to the pandemic's epicenter has been blamed on sluggish vaccine uptake in some nations, the highly contagious Delta variant, colder weather moving people indoors again and the easing of restrictions.

In the European Union, 67.7 percent of the population is fully vaccinated.

But rates vary widely between countries, with low levels in many eastern countries. Only 24.2 percent of Bulgarians are fully vaccinated, compared with 86.7 percent in Portugal.

According to WHO data, COVID-19-related deaths in Europe increased last week to almost 4,200 a day, doubling from 2,100 a day at the end of September.

It said evidence was growing that vaccine-induced protection against infection and mild disease was declining.

Several countries, including Greece, France and Germany, are moving toward requiring a third booster shot for someone to be considered fully vaccinated.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has warned that Germany is not doing enough to curb its "highly dramatic" fourth wave of the pandemic.

With intensive care beds swiftly filling up and its weekly incidence rate at an all-time high of 399.8 new infections per 100,000 people, Germany's worst-hit regions have ordered new shutdowns.

The German military is expected to add coronavirus jabs to the list of mandatory vaccines for soldiers "soon," a defense ministry spokesman said.

The move would make troops the first German public servants to be obliged to be jabbed against the virus.

The US State Department has urged Americans not to travel to Germany or Denmark because of the surging COVID-19 case numbers.

AFP