Daily COVID-19 infections hit an all-time high in Germany on Thursday, as the World Health Organization warned that another 500,000 people could die across Europe with cases once again on the rise.

The dire projection came as the United Kingdom became the first country to approve an anti-COVID pill and the United States announced strict new rules for businesses to strongarm employees into getting vaccines, as countries scramble to avoid another deadly winter wave.

The European Union’s most populous country Germany set a new record for daily infections, with nearly 34,000 news cases over the past 24 hours, according to the Robert Koch Institute.

The WHO’s Europe chief expressed “grave concern” over the rising pace of coronavirus infections in Europe, warning that according to “one reliable projection” the current trajectory would mean “another half a million COVID-19 deaths” by February.