Lockdown measures and other restrictions in Europe have made a small but encouraging dent in its coronavirus numbers, a World Health Organization official said Thursday.

In a statement posted online, Dr. Hans Henri P. Kluge, WHO’s regional director for Europe, credited residents’ “adherence to risk-reducing behaviour” for a drop in new weekly cases from 2 million to 1.8 million last week.  

“It’s a small signal, but it’s a signal nevertheless,” Kluge said.

“I would like to emphasize that every time we choose to follow guidance, stop the spread of misinformation or address denial, we contribute to preventing lives lost due to COVID-19,” he also said.

Europe has taken a starkly different approach to the latest wave of the pandemic than the United States has. France, England, Greece and Germany have implemented lockdowns, while many other countries have imposed new restrictions.

In the U.S., where cases are skyrocketing, many states are also enacting new measures aimed at curbing the virus’ spread, but nothing as severe as what the country saw in the spring. Meanwhile, many states and residents are still resistant to mask mandates and stay-at-home orders.

The U.S. set a new record high Wednesday with 187,833 confirmed COVID-19 cases, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. There were more than 2,000 deaths, the most the country has recorded since early May.

Kluge was by no means declaring victory with his statement. He noted that Europe has recorded 15.7 million COVID-19 cases and nearly 355,000 deaths during the pandemic — and nearly 4 million cases in November alone. 

He added that deaths have increased by 18% in two weeks and that someone in the region dies from the virus every 17 seconds.

Kluge urged Europeans not to let down their guards. 

He said he believes lockdowns should be a “last-resort measure” and are “avoidable” if more people wear masks.

“Mask use is by no means a panacea, and needs to be done in combination with other measures; however, if mask use reached 95%, lockdowns would not be needed,” he said. “But, at mask-use rates of 60% or lower, it is hard to avoid lockdowns.”

He acknowledged that there is “significant collateral damage” associated with lockdowns, including mental health issues, alcohol and substance abuse, gender-based violence and a need to help those who lost their jobs financially.

But Kluge cautioned against leaders rushing to lift restrictions. 

“Too often we have seen the negative impact of ‘easing too quickly’ following an understandable will among policy-makers to free the public from periods of stringency,” he said. “Too often we have also seen how much these short political gains are quickly offset by the devastating impact of having to reinstall mandates shortly after they are eased.”

That was a sentiment echoed Thursday by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.

“We have all learned from our experience in the summer that the exit from a wave, in this case the exit from the first wave, is very difficult and that the impact of lifting measures too hastily has had a very bad impact on the epidemiological situation in summer and fall,” she said at a virtual news conference.

“We will make a proposal for a gradual and coordinated approach to lifting containment measures. This will be very important to avoid the risk of yet another wave,” von der Leyen added.