The World Health Organisation has cautioned against lifting lockdowns and said it would be "dangerous" to think Europe is nearing the end of the coronavirus pandemic.
Regional director Dr Hans Kluge said now is not the time for complacency in a warning that was issued as some countries flatten the curve and authorities urge people not to hold or attend any Easter gatherings.
Dr Kluge said the “progress” Europe had made so far in combating the virus was “extremely fragile" and there was still a long way to go in the "marathon."
He added: "To think we are coming close to an end point would be a dangerous thing to do. The virus leaves no room for error or complacency.
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"Any shift in our response strategy, relaxing of lockdown status or physical distancing measures requires very careful consideration."
He said the death toll was starting to flatten in Italy and Spain - two of the worst-affected countries where tens of thousands have died - but now is not the time to lift restrictions aimed at curbing the spread of Covid-19.
The outbreak began in China as early as December but Europe became the new epicentre as cases skyrocketed in Italy in February and March and the virus rapidly spread across the continent to the UK, Spain, France and Germany.
Seven of the top 10 countries with the most confirmed cases are in Europe, as of Wednesday morning.
The US had the most (400,549), followed by Spain (146,690), Italy (135,586), France (109,069) and Germany (107,663).
The UK ranked eighth with 55,242 confirmed cases, although, like many countries, it has not carried out widespread testing and the true total is much higher.
Dr Kluge said the outbreak in Europe was "very concerning" as he urged governments to give "very careful consideration" before relaxing measures.
He added during a virtual briefing: "A dramatic rise in cases across the Atlantic skews what remains a very concerning picture in Europe.
"We still have a long way to go in the marathon."
Dr Bruce Aylward, senior advisor to the WHO Director-General, spoke to journalists after returning from a trip to Spain.
He said it was too early to speak of optimism, but that the outbreak there was "definitely slowing down".
Responding to President Donald Trump's threat to stop sending money to the WHO, Dr Kluge said: "We are now in an acute phase of the pandemic - now is not the time to cut back on funding."
On Tuesday, Trump gave his latest criticism of the World Health Organisation, accusing it of being too focused on China and issuing bad advice during the new outbreak.
He wrote on Twitter: "The W.H.O. really blew it.
"For some reason, funded largely by the United States, yet very China centric. We will be giving that a good look.
"Fortunately I rejected their advice on keeping our borders open to China early on.
"Why did they give us such a faulty recommendation?"
Later, he repeated the accusations as he told reporters: "They called it wrong. They really - they missed the call.
"And we're going to put a hold on money spent to the WHO. We're going to put a very powerful hold on it and we're going to see."
UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric rejected the criticism of the WHO, which is led by Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
He said: "For the Secretary-General (Antonio Guterres), it is clear that WHO, under the leadership of Dr Tedros, has done tremendous work on Covid, in supporting countries with millions of pieces of equipment being shipped out, on helping countries with training, on providing global guidelines - WHO is showing the strength of the international health system."
