The Prevalence of COVID-19 in Europe by the End of November 2022: A Cross-Sectional Study

Abstract

Background The world has been affected differently by the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), and Europe reaped the largest number of cases and deaths. Moreover, COVID-19 statistics are dynamic. Objectives The current study aimed to use COVID-19 data to examine the COVID-19 prevalence in Europe by the end of November 2022 and compare the findings globally. Methods The primary data on COVID-19 for each European country were obtained from the "Worldometer" website. The data include the cumulative incidence of COVID-19 per country, the cumulative number of deaths, the total number of tests performed, the number of cases per million population, the number of deaths per million, the number of tests per million, and the total population. The case-fatality rate was calculated (number of deaths/number of cases). In addition, the median age and the vaccination coverage rate (people who received two doses) for each European country were extracted from the "United Nations" website and the "Our World in Data" website, respectively. To compare European countries to the globe, COVID-19 data for each continent were obtained. The analysis of variance (ANOVA) test was used to compare variances across the means of the four parts of Europe based on the geographic division. An independent sample t-test was also used to compare the means between the European Union (EU) states and non-EU states. The Spearman correlation coefficient was used to determine the relationship between different variables across Europe. Results As of December 1, 2022, about 648 million COVID-19 cases and 6.6 million deaths have been recorded worldwide. Europe accounted for nearly 36.8% and 29.5% of all cases and deaths, respectively. Based on the number of deaths per million, Europe was the most affected continent after South America. Nearly 6.8 billion tests have been conducted worldwide, 41% done in Europe; 43 European countries have performed tests more than their population. However, COVID-19 statistics were inconsistent across the four parts of Europe. A significant difference was noticed between Eastern Europe and others, especially Northern Europe and Western Europe. By affiliation with the EU, there was no significant difference. For global comparison, the mean deaths per million, the mean cases per million, and the mean tests per population for European countries were higher than those of the world's countries, although they recorded a lower mean case-fatality rate (CFR). Thirteen European countries were among the 15 most affected countries worldwide based on the number of deaths per million, most located in Eastern and Southern Europe. The number of cases and the number of deaths were significantly proportional to the number of tests performed. Conclusions By the end of November 2022, Europe had the most cases of COVID-19, the most deaths, and the most tests performed, even though it accounts for 9.4% of the world's population. However, COVID-19 data were inconsistent across the four parts of Europe, especially between Eastern Europe and others. Given the natural immunity acquired during the three years and the excellent vaccine coverage in Europe, it is essential to reconsider the definition of a suspected case and establish more specific criteria for testing.

Keywords: case-fatality; coronavirus; covid-19; europe; european union; median age; testing; vaccine.