Review of COVID-19 epidemiology and public health response in Europe in 2020

OBJECTIVE: This study focuses on the epidemiology of COVID-19 in Europe and investigates public health response in severely hit countries. METHODS: European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, Oxford COVID-19 Government Response Tracker and Health System Response Monitor were referred. The relationship between stringency index and COVID-19 cases, and between speed of stringency implementation and growth of cases was examined using linear regression. RESULTS: The case-fatality ratio (CFR) of Europe (2.35%) was higher than the global CFR (2.2%). United Kingdom, Russia, France, Italy, Spain, and Germany together, accounted for 61.15% of cases and 65.62% of deaths in Europe. Significant relationship was observed between growth of COVID-19 cases and late substantive stringency imposed by countries. Population aged 65 and above (r = 0.9037, p < 0.01) and male population (r = 0.8701, p < 0.01) were significantly and positively correlated with COVID-19 deaths. The public health system of even big European countries encountered roadblocks, such as shortages of healthcare resources and deferral of non-COVID-19 treatments while dealing with the unprecedented pandemic. CONCLUSION: Even big and richest European countries delayed the implementation of non-pharmaceutical interventions which led to rapid virus transmission. The pandemic has posed a reminder to make the public health system more resilient, as epidemics and pandemics of this nature will continue to threaten in future as well.