Tourists planning to visit Greece this summer should be aware of an increase in Covid cases caused by the FLiRT version.
According to the most recent data, 669 new Covid patients were admitted to hospitals in the week leading up to July 14, with 26 dying from the disease.
Greece’s national public health organization, EODY, has recommended susceptible populations to seek quick medical attention if they exhibit symptoms of the virus.
The FLiRT variety is a subvariant of the extremely contagious Omicron strain, which first appeared in November 2021.
Common symptoms include fever, cough, exhaustion, loss of taste and smell, sore throat, muscle or body aches, shortness of breath, headache, and a runny nose.
Last Monday, Metaxa Oncology Hospital in Athens reintroduced masks and other precautionary precautions in its wards.
Matina Pagoni, President of EINAP, told Greek television network MEGA, “It’s summer, we’re going on vacation, and we never said the coronavirus was gone.” The truth is that the cases this year are unrelated to those from last year. There are too many hospitalizations and deaths. “21-22 deaths is too many.”
The United Kingdom’s Health Security Agency (UKHSA) issued an advisory: “If you have symptoms of a respiratory infection, such as Covid-19, and you have a high temperature or do not feel well enough to go to work or carry out normal activities, try to stay at home and avoid contact with other people, until you no longer have a high temperature (if you had one) or until you no longer feel unwell.”
Bulgaria, Greece’s neighbour, has advocated “strict compliance with preventive and hygienic measures in the context of disease spread.”
Professor Lawrence Young, a virologist at Warwick University, said the spread of the HIV strain should serve as a “wake-up call” to anyone who believes the virus has disappeared.
He told the i daily, “The virus hasn’t gone away and is definitely not a seasonal infection. The combination of novel, more virulent virus types and declining immunity is most likely contributing to the higher levels of infection.
“The hope is that this will not result in a big wave of infection but we need to keep a close watch.”
Source: The Standard
