Covid clinics reopening to cope with rising cases

Exclusive Covid clinics, which had been closed earlier this year, are to reopen at Greece’s public hospitals to deal with rising admissions, according to the president of the Athens and Piraeus hospital doctors’ association (EINAP), Matina Pagoni.

Hospital admissions have risen “from five to 45 in seven days,” Pagoni, who works at Athens’ Gennimatas Covid referral hospital, told Skai TV. “We are not doing well at all,” she added, saying that the health system will start coming under pressure, though not at the intensive care unit (ICU) level just yet.

She noted, however, that it won’t take much for unvaccinated people over the age of 50 with an underlying health problem to end up in ICU, and warned of new restrictions if the ratio of vaccinated people does not reach 80% by the end of August. “If it takes until December to build the wall of immunity, there will be mayhem at hospitals come October,” she warned.