EODY warns of fresh surge in new Covid cases

The rise in Covid-19 cases is expected to continue with a fresh surge well above Monday’s 2,065 confirmed infections, the president of the National Organization for Public Health (EODY) warned on Tuesday.

In comments to state broadcaster ERT, Panagiotis Arkoumaneas said that EODY is expected to report around 3,000 new cases in the Health Ministry’s daily afternoon bulletin on the course of the pandemic on Tuesday, compared to 1,797 on the same day last week and 605 the Tuesday before that, on June 29.

He added, however, that despite the surge in transmission, the number of hospital admissions and the number of Covid-19 patients on ventilators remains low, due mainly to the fact that the vast majority of new cases concern people in their teens and 20s.

In separate comments on Tuesday, another two health officials warned that even though admissions remain low they are increasing and will continue to do so if transmission continues at the present rate.

Mina Gaga, the president of the Central Health Council and director of the lung department at the capital’s Sotiria Hospital, told Skai television that admissions at Sotiria have already jumped to around 20 a day following the new surge in cases that began earlier this month, after just one or three a day in previous weeks.

“The rate is rising steadily,” she said, adding that the new admissions also include people in their 20s and even in their late teens.

“Yesterday’s cases, which were a lot for a Monday, emerged from around 37,000 tests. We know that the average number of tests on regular weekdays comes up to 60,000, so we shouldn’t be surprised if we see a very large number” on Tuesday, Athanasios Exadaktylos, the president of Greece’s medical association, also told Skai TV on Tuesday.

“It is vital that people over the age of 50 who have not been vaccinated do so at once. People who are vaccinated are protected from becoming very ill or dying,” he added.